Love: Lost and Found Again
by Alisha Winchester Collins
Summary: 28 years ago Castiel held Aurora in his arms as she died, but an encounter with Raphael leaves Cas confused when he learns that a human Ashley Collins is his lost love; if Aurora died in heaven, how is she alive as a human on Earth? Cas/OC, Dean/Jo
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey! This is my first ever fanfiction and it happens to based not only on my fav tv show, Supernatural but also on my fav character, Cas! I'd like to thank a good friend of mine Hannah Hogan without whom I wouldn't have found the guts to start writing this story. Its a Castiel love story with bits of Dean/Jo in it, set during season 5.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Eric Kripke's though I wish I owned Cas! Aurora and Ashley are my own creations and the storyline regarding Ellen and Jo both of whom are alive (yay!) is entirely mine.**_

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They were coming. She could hear them following her through the streets even though she was a good 100 feet away; from what she could discern, there had to be about three of them, with only one goal, to kill her. The sky was pitch black and tonight of all nights, it was moonless. The girl ran across empty warehouses, deserted lanes and stopped suddenly when she ran straight into a locked fence; she had hit a dead end.

"Shoot! No… come on! This can't be happening, not now!" She cursed as she shook the fence trying to figure out how to get past it.

The noise behind her was getting louder as they got closer to her. Looking up at the fence, she thought that she just might be able to reach up and jump over it, but the fence was too high up for her to reach and there was nothing she could use to climb. The noise was unbearable now; she turned around and backed up against the fence which rattled as her back slammed against it. She was shivering now, her breathing was uneven from having run for about three blocks. Her clothes had tears as if something had scratched holes in them, some were even stained with blood. It was her blood and fear that drew them closer to her; she had managed to keep the distance between her and them because she was lucky to have had a head start, but now there was no escape.

The girl's eyes scanned the lane in front of her, she saw that there were buildings on either side, but all of them were deserted; there was no one for miles to hear her even if she screamed. The silence that hung in the air since a few seconds was broken by the sound of a loud, angry growl. They were close now, about 30 feet away from her, she could hear them breathing heavily and their growls were getting louder every second, they weren't barking yet but that didn't make the fact that they were invisible to her any less frightening.

"I'm going to die…" The girl whispered softly as she tried backing up even further, hoping that the fence would open up and let her through. "Hellhounds. Hellhounds are going to kill me." She was sweating now, and trying to catch her breath.

Any second now, the hellhounds would pounce on her and rip her skin to shreds, she would die slowly and painfully, and no one would learn the truth about how she was killed. It wasn't the way she wanted to go, heck it wasn't the time for her to go, or at least that's what she thought; but Destiny seemed to have planned otherwise, she was going to die tonight and nothing could stop that. The hellhounds had closed the distance between her and them, they were barely a few feet away from her, watching as she sank to the hard, cold, concrete road, waiting for them to strike. It was over, her life was ending before it had even begun. The girl closed her eyes; she could feel the stench of Hell oozing off the hounds.

"Just do it." She whispered.

A second passed and nothing happened; they seemed to have stopped suddenly. That's when she heard a bloodcurdling howl from one of the hounds; her eyes snapped open and she found that there were people attacking the hellhounds. People with guns and a silver sword. Three men against three hounds. They hadn't managed to kill her. For a moment she thought that it would be impossible to attack thin air, but as the fight in front of her eyes went on, she was surprised to see that within seconds, the hellhounds were defeated. The three men holstered their guns and began whispering to one another; they seem to have momentarily forgotten that she was still there. Slowly and painfully, she managed to grab hold of the fence and tried to pull herself to her feet, but nearly fell back down again.

"Ouch…" she held one hand to her stomach and found that thankfully there was only a scratch, which wasn't too deep.

Her voice had alerted her presence to the men. One of them turned around so quickly that for a second, she thought she saw him standing with the other two men but before she even blinked he was standing next to her.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, his voice sounding a little gruff and husky.

"I think so…" She replied, grabbing a hold of the fence, trying to steady her feet.

She looked up at him; he was tall and dressed in a trench coat holding the silver sword that was now stained with the black blood of the hellhounds. He held out a hand to her and helped her to stand. Behind them, the other two men started to walk towards them when a loud noise erupted from somewhere in the space between the two pairs - a loud, ferocious growling followed by incessant barking; it was the third hellhound.

"Oh no!" She immediately started trembling again. They hadn't managed to kill third hound, and it was still there, waiting to attack her.

The man in the trench coat stepped in front of her, shielding her from the hound and raised his sword, ready to strike. The barking grew louder, they heard it running towards them, the bullets that were fired from the two men kept missing. She knew it was too late this time; she felt the hound jump and attack her protector, scratching his chest, and felt him stumble backwards with the force of the hound on top of them. Luckily, she managed to roll over and picked up the silver sword that had fallen to the ground and tried stabbing the air, hoping to strike the hound.

"Don't!" One of the two men, the taller one, with long hair and green eyes cried out.

He tried to run over to help, but walked smack into something hard, like a wall, but there was nothing in front of him but air; for some strange reason, there was an invisible barrier blocking him and his partner from getting close to help their friend. They were stuck.

She stabbed once and struck mid-air, that was when the hound leapt onto her and she felt its claws on her chest, digging into her skin, its hell-filled stench made her nauseous; she was about to lose consciousness before she died. A heart-stopping second passed and then she felt the beast being thrown off her; it was him; he was awake now and he held the sword in his right hand with an angry fire blazing in his eyes as he struck the air once, tackled the hound, and drove the sword straight through its heart. There was a moaning growl from the beast and then… it died.

The barrier that was blocking the other men seemed to vanish almost instantly and they ran across the lane to help the girl who was now lying on the pavement, her eyes were half-closed and her breathing was heavy.

"How bad is she?" One of the men asked.

"She will survive if we get her help fast." The one in the trench coat replied. "We have to take her back to Bobby's."

"But can't you just… you know…" The second man, a little shorter than his partner asked, giving a weird look.

"No, not right now. The attack has weakened me, it will be a little while before I get my full strength back." The man in the trench coat explained.

"Alright, so let's go, its not far to Bobby's from here. Ellen and Jo will be there, they can help her." The first man decided.

The two men were about to help their friend with the girl, but they were surprised when he picked her up in his arms. For a moment, she opened her eyes and found herself staring into his pair of soft, warm blue eyes.

"Castiel…" she whispered, before succumbing to sleep. Her head rested against his shoulders.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'd like to thank my reviewers bekyg620 and Agent007Tomato for their comments and feedback... Sorry about the delay in posting the 2nd chapter, I was on vacation and just got back... the story is going to be updated much more regularly now!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own the Winchester's nor Cas... *sigh***

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"_She knows my name. How is it that this girl knows who I am?" _Castiel thought to himself, frowning deeply in confusion.

He did not voice his thoughts out loud, but quietly walked towards a Black '67 Chevy Impala. Once again, before he reached the car, the girl's eyes fluttered open for a moment, Castiel looked down at the figure in his arms and got a glimpse of her bright blue eyes and nearly stumbled when he looked closer, he had seen something in her eyes, but then they closed and Castiel was left even more flustered.

"Cas? You okay?" One of the men asked.

"Yes. I'm fine Dean. Let us go." Castiel placed the girl in the backseat and closed the door shut, earning a raised eyebrow from Dean.

"Now what?" Dean seemed to be used to this kind of behavior from Castiel and wondered why he still never got mad at him.

"I must go. Back to heaven." Castiel answered. There was something he needed to find out from the other angels in the garrison. Immediately.

"Now? Cas, you're hurt, can't it wait until Ellen takes a look at your injuries?" Dean's partner sounded worried, he knew that Castiel had a habit of vanishing on them all the time, but there was something strange going on now.

"No. I will be fine. I must go now. I will return shortly. You should leave too, whatever raised that barrier will return soon." And with that, Castiel simply disappeared into thin air, leaving Dean and his partner standing in the middle of an empty road with an unconscious girl in the backseat of the Impala.

"Cas is right Sammy, we should get going, we don't wanna stick around to find out who or what set those hounds on this girl and raised an invisible barrier on us." Dean nodded to his partner and got into the driver's seat.

Sam took one quick glance around the area to make sure that it was in fact empty and there was no sign that they would be followed before sliding into the passenger seat next to Dean. The ride to Bobby's was quiet for the first few minutes or so, until Sam decided that he had to tell Dean about what was on his mind.

"Dude… did you hear that back there?" Sam asked Dean.

"Hear what exactly? Those hounds? Yea, I heard them all right, I heard them screaming and howling as we kicked their furry asses!" Dean nearly shouted, but fell silent when Sam nudged him and jerked his head to the backseat.

"Not the hounds Dean. Her. Did you hear what she said back there?" Sam elaborated.

"She said 'Castiel' and then passed out. So?" Dean didn't understand what Sam was getting at.

Sam shook his head sadly, he knew that Dean never paid attention to the minor things that happened lately. He also knew that there was a certain blonde hunter who was the reason for Dean's constant distraction.

"That's the thing Dean, Cas didn't tell her his name, none of us did, and don't say she must be knowing Cas from before because even he was pretty confused." Sam added, knowing that Dean would have replied with that answer.

"I wasn't gonna say that!" Dean protested. Softly. But one eyebrow from Sam made him change his statement. "Okay, okay I was gonna say that she must be knowing Cas from somewhere, but yeah, I did see Cas looking a little surprised that she knew his name."

"Exactly. And I think she knew that there were Hellhounds after her." Sam mentioned how he noticed that the girl wasn't completely freaking out of her mind while being chased by invisible beasts of Hell.

"You saying she's a hunter?" Dean asked. He took a quick glance in the mirror at the sleeping form of the girl and then looked back on the road.

"I don't know, but there's something going on here that we don't know about. Who is this girl and why were hellhounds after her? Where did that barrier come from? We didn't see anyone else back there with us. How does she know Cas' name and why did he leave to go to heaven so suddenly?" Sam rattled off all the unanswered questions that had arisen in the past hour.

"Dude, that's a lot of something's. My brain hurts just listening to you." Dean made a face, "We should reach Bobby's soon, let Jo fix her, let her rest and then we'll interrogate her."

Sam smirked when he heard Dean's plan. "Yeah sure…" he sounded like he was trying not to laugh. Unfortunately for him, Dean noticed that.

"What?" He asked Sam. "What?"

"It's just… ever since we met up with Jo and Ellen, you've been acting different. Good different, not bad." Sam quickly added after seeing Dean's weird expression.

"What do you mean _different_?" Dean didn't like the sound of that.

"Dude, relax. I said it's good different, you're changing for the better. You're becoming more…" Sam stopped himself. He didn't want Dean to get angry.

"I'm becoming more what Sam? What am I turning into?" Dean was starting to lose his cool.

Luckily, Dean's phone rang just then. He gave a stern look in Sam's direction before slowing his speed and flicked his cell open. The name on the screen was flashing_**"Jo"**_. He grinned for a split second and then answered the call, while Sam started to snicker softly. A few seconds later Dean hung up and glared at Sam again before speaking.

"It was Jo. She called to tell us that we have to get back soon. There's some weird stuff going on." Dean's expression had changed from looking love-struck to grave and serious in a matter of seconds.

"Did she say what kind of weird stuff?" Sam asked, looking concerned now.

"She said that they were being attacked by demons at the exact time that we were fighting off those hounds and the ones that they didn't kill vanished as soon as we killed the last hellhound." Dean replied, stepping on the gas. They had to reach Bobby's house fast.

"That doesn't sound too weird to me Dean, it could be a coincidence." Sam was trying not to jump to any conclusions yet.

"Yeah? Jo also said that Ellen and Bobby had been trapped by some barrier inside the house while she was stuck outside fighting off a couple of demons." Dean was worried, he could see Bobby's house now. They would reach any minute now.

"Is she okay?" Sam knew how much Dean cared for Jo and also knew that Dean wouldn't be able to handle himself if anything happened to her.

"She says that she wasn't hurt, but I'm gonna believe it when I see it." With that, he pulled up the Impala right in front of Bobby's house that was surrounded by hundreds of cars; it was a salvage yard, Bobby Singer's Salvage Yard to be precise.

"You go check on Jo and the others, I'll bring her inside." Sam clapped a hand on Dean's shoulder and got out of the car.

Sam watched as his brother walked to the front door and nearly ran inside as soon as Bobby opened the door. He opened the door at the back of the car and gently picked the girl in his arms, he was closing the car door with the his foot when Castiel suddenly appeared out of nowhere, looking even more beaten up than before.

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**Reviews would be much appreciated! Just press the tiny button at the bottom! ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

To my reviewers: **WhitneySheree, Bekyg620, and Agent007Tomato**, thank you once again for your comments! Here's your latest chap, with a lovely Dean/Jo scene ^_^

Disclaimer: **Dean and Sam Winchester are still not mine! Nor is Cas for that matter... grr...**

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"Cas! Are you okay?" Sam was shocked, nothing was making sense. Why was Castiel injured again? Hadn't he gone to heaven to meet the other angels?

"I am okay. We must hurry and get her inside the house now." Castiel took the girl from Sam in his arms again and walked hastily towards the house.

"Cas, what's going on? Why are you bleeding again? What happened?" Sam was confused. This wasn't normal. Even for them.

"It was Raphael. He sent his soldiers after me." Castiel's face looked grim. He glanced down at the girl in his arms.

"Why? What does Raphael have against you?" Sam thought that the archangel was Castiel's ally.

"I was attacked because they want her." Castiel finally met Sam's gaze, "The Demons are not the only ones after this girl, the Angels want her too."

The door opened again and Bobby came outside, looking relieved when he saw Castiel with Sam. Then he noticed the unconscious girl and nodded his head, letting them enter.

"Ellen's in the kitchen, taking care of Jo." Bobby said, "She ain't that injured, she's a brilliant Hunter, took out 3 demons on her own. You can take her to the living room." He added.

Castiel nodded and walked through the corridor to the living room where he gently laid the girl on the sofa and then stood up, staring at her, as if trying to remember something. There was a frown on his head and he seemed… defeated somehow. He didn't realize when everyone else had walked into the living room.

"Cas? What happened to you up there?" Dean asked him. He was worried about Castiel; after everything that they all had been through in the past year, Dean thought that there was nothing that would change his guardian angel's life so much.

"I went to heaven. Looking for answers, instead I was ambushed by Raphael's men; I managed to fight them off and escape but…" Castiel's voice faltered. He continued to gaze at the girl lying on the sofa instead of meeting Dean's eyes.

"But what?" Dean knew that it was best if he did the talking. Ellen and Sam were sitting on the other sofa, Bobby was leaning against his desk and Jo was nursing her injured arm by the wall.

"Raphael caught up to me. He said that everything that we had been fighting for was going to change. He said that _this _girl is the key. And we should hand her over to the Angels before things get worse." Castiel replied, finally tearing his eyes away from the girl.

He looked at the people he thought of as his friends. As his family. They all were worried about him, but he couldn't tell them the one thing that Raphael had told him just before disappearing; Castiel could still hear Raphael's laughter booming in his ears.

"_Don't you know who she is Castiel? She is the one you lost." _

Castiel still did not understand how that was possible. All these years he had believed that _she_ was dead; but hearing Raphael speak tonight had shaken him up. He could not help but think, "_What if she had somehow survived? Was it possible that…?_" He shook his head, there was no good going to come from dwelling on the past. He wanted to focus on the main reason this unknown girl was being chased by Demons and Angels.

"Key? To what? Did Raphael say anything else?" Sam spoke up this time; what Castiel had told them seemed to have begun a chain of events that would soon make sense.

"No. That is all." Castiel turned to Ellen and spoke, "I am not fully healed yet, so I cannot fix her…" But before he could say anything else, Ellen cut him off.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine. Jo, get the first-aid kit from the kitchen, Sam you take care of Cas' injuries, Dean bring the girl upstairs to the guest bedroom and Bobby…" Ellen stopped half-way when Bobby grunted and spoke.

"I know, I know. Stay here and guard the place. No one's getting in. _Or out._" He stood up, grabbed his rifle and set about pouring salt over the windowsills and doors.

About an hour later, Castiel was fully healed from his injuries and was being watched by Sam and Bobby in the hall. Ellen was taking first watch; they couldn't be 100% sure that whatever had sent those hellhounds and demons and raised two invisible barriers at the same time wasn't coming back. Jo was looking after the mysterious girl who still hadn't gained consciousness and Dean was keeping an eye on Jo.

He was leaning against the door of the guest bedroom with his arms crossed over his chest, watching her unwrap the bandage on her right arm, but making sure that every five seconds, he would glance at the other girl, the one they had just saved from being attacked by hellhounds. Dean shuddered as he remembered the look on her face after they had killed the beasts and his reaction when Jo had called him. She'd told him that Ellen and Bobby had been trapped in the house while she was left to fight off five demons, two of whom vanished after she had killed the other three. He didn't want to think of what would have happened if there had been hellhounds here as well. Jo would have…

"Ow, hell!" Jo whispered as she finished removing the bandages, revealing a big cut on her forearm that reached her elbow.

Dean started the second he heard Jo's voice - she was in pain. In a split second, he had entered the room and was standing in front of her, holding her injured arm in his hands.

"Dean! Jesus, you scared me. What are you doing here?" Jo nearly screamed in surprise. She had been standing with her back to Dean and hadn't even heard him.

"I was checking up on you. On the girl, I mean." Dean quickly changed his answer. "Pass me the first-aid box will you…" he ordered her in a soft voice.

"I can do it on my own Dean," Jo started to protest. In response, Dean used his free hand to cover her mouth.

"I know you can, but I still owe you one. For the time when you patched me up." Dean's voice had dropped to barely a whisper now. "Are you going to give me the box or not?"

Jo quietly picked up the box from the table behind Dean and handed it to him. He smiled at her and started to clean the wound. The two of them stood by the window, without saying a word, until Dean broke the silence. He looked up at Jo as he started to wrap a new bandage on her arm.

"Do you remember? The time when you fixed me up?" he asked her.

"Yeah… it was after that demon possessing Sam had shot you in the arm and you had jumped into the river. I remember how much of a baby you were being." Jo replied, grinning at him.

"Hey! I wasn't being a baby. There was a bullet stuck in my freaking arm." He retaliated.

"I was trying to get it out; didn't you trust me that I wouldn't hurt you?" She asked him, finally looking into his eyes.

"Of course I do, I've always trusted you." He gazed back into her eyes.

Dean had beautiful green eyes. Jo had been attracted to him since the day he had met her when he and Sam had walked into the Roadhouse. The two of them had been always flirted casually, with Dean always giving the 'wrong place, wrong time' excuse. That had been before he had gone to Hell. Once he had been rescued by Castiel last year, he and Sam had met up with her and Ellen and they had been working together since then.

They still continued to flirt around, more in the last few months and yet for some reason, she always wondered if there would be anything more for them. Jo knew that in spite of the feelings they had for each other, being a Hunter was a dangerous life to live with no certainty of the future, especially if it came to being a Winchester, but she couldn't help thinking that there could be something more for them, someday.

"Jo? Earth to Jo?" Dean waved his hand in front of her eyes, snapping her back to reality, she looked at him and then down at her hand and noticed that it was already bandaged.

"Thanks…" Jo blushed as she shook her head clear. She had to focus.

"That's it? Thanks?" Dean asked, feigning sadness.

"Do you want a kiss as well?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't hate that…" he smiled like he had never smiled before.

Dean closed the distance between them, and smiled at Jo. She looked up at him, and stared back. He raised a hand to her cheek and brushed back the lock of her soft blonde hair that had fallen across her face and lowered his head to gently kiss her forehead and caressed her lower lip with his thumb, grinning as he felt her shiver. He moved to her lips and she raised her head to meet his; she could feel his warm, musky breath on her face. Just as their lips touched, they heard something; something that Dean would never forget in his entire life.

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**A/N: **Sorry about the cliffhanger's, I promise you they'll eventually lessen or maybe won't be so big... I think ;) Reviews would be much appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

Once again thanks to my lovely readers **WhitneySheree **and **Bekyg620**, please keep the comments coming! They're a great motivation to me and I promise to try and update the story daily... here's your next chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, everything belongs to Eric Kripke, Ben Edlund and Sera Gamble, but Ellen and Jo are mine now! Hehehehe... sort of, I made them stay alive so technically... oh well... I want Cas!

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_Just as their lips touched, they heard something; something that Dean would never forget in his entire life._

"Hello." It was Castiel. He stood in the doorway, staring at the couple, who broke apart with a startle.

Jo turned away from Castiel and hurriedly began to pick up all the bandages and ointments that had surprisingly fallen out of the first aid box and dumped them all in quickly while trying not to look at Dean who was anything but happy to see the angel standing there.

"Cas!" Dean grumbled as he came up with a dozen different ideas how to get rid of the angel within seconds.

"I came to tell you that I have my powers back now." Castiel spoke calmly, not realizing what he had just walked in on.

"That's great Cas. Perfect timing." Dean's smile was forced now.

"I… I think I should go… check on Mom…" Jo said as she slipped away out of the room taking the first-aid kit with her. She passed by Castiel who simply smiled at her as she left the room almost running out.

"Jo seems flustered. Is she flustered?" Castiel looked confused.

"Well considering that I was about to _finally_ kiss her!" Dean nearly yelled. But then he calmed himself, he knew that Castiel was still pretty ignorant about everything human around him. And love wasn't one of the easy things to explain.

"Oh. Yes. I saw that. Well done." Castiel tried to think of an appropriate way to congratulate Dean but somehow felt it right to be simple.

"_Well done?_ Cas I barely touched her lips, that isn't well done! You don't know how long…" Dean's voice faltered as he realized what he was saying.

"How long you have wanted to kiss Jo? 3 months, 2 weeks, 5 days and 14 hours." Castiel replied calmly.

"You're kidding. There's no way its been that long." Dean was surprised. His feelings for Jo had grown strong for over three months and now he was making a move on her?

"I do not kid. You have felt like kissing Jo since the day you saved her life in Carthage, Missouri." Castiel told Dean.

"I remember that…" Dean seemed to have drifted off into his memories but he suddenly recalled why Castiel had come to him in the first place, "You're healed aren't you?" He asked his angel guardian.

"I am. I can heal the girl now." Castiel replied.

"Will she gain consciousness as well?" Dean thought it was time that their questions needed answers.

"Yes. She should wake up." Castiel moved closer to the bed. It was time. He needed some of his questions answered as well.

"Alright, then let's do this." Dean stood by the opposite side of the bed, waiting as Castiel approached the girl and placed two fingers on her forehead.

Immediately, all signs of injuries on her body, along with the blood and bruises vanished. A minute later, her breathing came back to normal and her fingers began to twitch. The girl was starting to regain consciousness and soon they'd all have their answers hopefully.

"She is waking up. Shall I go call the others?" Castiel looked up at Dean, who simply nodded.

Castiel turned to leave the room to go downstairs and call Ellen, Bobby, Sam and Jo when all of a sudden, something happened. Something that not only shocked him, but Dean as well. He was barely a foot away from the bed when the girl's left hand shot out and grabbed a hold of his hand. His hand. Not Dean's. Even though Dean was next to her as well, she had unconsciously grabbed a hold of Castiel's hand.

Dean raised an eyebrow, he remembered what Sam had reminded him of, the girl had said Castiel's name before passing out; but then Dean saw Castiel look at him with a confused expression on his face, and he understood that Castiel genuinely had no idea who this mysterious girl was. He knew that Castiel was still adjusting to human emotions and used his confused expression a lot, but this time… this time there was something else that Dean noticed; there was a look of… worry on Castiel's face. Dean was about to ask him about it when he noticed the girl stirring, she was waking up. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, she had blue eyes, Dean noted, before shaking his head; they needed answers from her, nothing else was important.

"Where… where am I?" she spoke softly, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"You're safe now. Just take it easy okay?" Dean replied. He thought it was best if he didn't let Castiel say anything yet.

The girl looked at him and sat up so quickly that when she realized that she still held Castiel's hand in hers, she immediately let go and glanced up at him. It was then did she remember what had happened to her.

"I know you." She addressed Castiel. "You saved me. From those… things." she hesitated, not knowing what to say about the Hellhounds.

"Hellhounds. They were hellhounds. Do you know what they are?" Dean asked her.

The girl stopped staring at Castiel and turned to face Dean. She sighed for a moment, trying to recollect the events of that night before speaking.

"Yes. They're umm… from Hell. Guard dogs of… the Devil. They're bigger than any normal beast and are invisible to everyone but Demons." She answered.

Dean was surprised by her answer. He wanted to know more, and needed to confirm his suspicions about her connection with Castiel.

"Cas, call the others. Tell them that she's awake now." Dean hoped that Castiel would leave them for a minute, it was all he needed.

"Yes. Of course." With that, Castiel walked outside the door and headed downstairs.

Dean noticed that the girl was paying a lot of attention to Castiel, watching him as he left the room. She was sitting with her back against a couple of pillows and there was a blanket on her that covered her legs; thanks to Castiel's healing, her injuries were gone but she still looked weak to him.

"Do you know him?" Dean asked her, point blank. A direct question out of nowhere would hopefully give him some information.

"You mean have I met him before? No, I don't even know his name. I just wanted to thank him for saving me earlier. To be honest, I don't even know your name." She told Dean.

"I'm Dean Winchester." He said to her, giving her a warm smile as he extended his hand out to her.

"I'm Ashley. Ashley Collins." The girl replied as she shook his hand.

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**A/N: **There we go! Not a bigggg cliffhanger this time! Press the tiny button to leave your reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks again to **WhitneySheree, Bekyg620 and Splishboom** for your reviews! Here's the newest chapter with some explanations.

**Disclaimer:** Nothing of the Supernatural fandom belongs to me except for my idea that is 100% original!

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"Ashley, that's a nice name. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you something." There was only one last thing Dean needed to know; he had to be sure that this wasn't a trick or anything that could have been set up by the Demons.

"Anything. I owe it to you for saving me…" Ashley started to say, but stopped when she noticed that they had company with them now.

Dean followed Ashley's gaze and saw that Castiel and the others had come up. He stood up from his place by the bed and introduced Ashley to everyone.

"Don't worry, they're friends." He reassured her when he noticed that Ashley seemed a little surprised by the sudden appearance of so many people. "Guys, this is Ashley Collins. Ashley, meet Sam Winchester, my younger brother." Dean pointed to Sam, "That's Bobby Singer next to him. That's Ellen Harvelle and her daughter Jo. And you've met him already," Dean said as he reached Castiel. "This is Castiel."

"Hi…" was all Ashley managed to get out.

"How are you feeling now?" Jo asked her as she came over to the bed and sat down beside Ashley.

"Much better thanks." Ashley smiled, she knew that Jo was trying to make her feel comfortable and it was working already. Jo seemed like a nice, warm, friendly girl.

"Ashley," Dean spoke up again, "About that thing I was going to ask you…" he started to say.

"Yes, what was it?" She asked him.

"How exactly did you know that you were being chased by those hellhounds. Are you a hunter?" There. The question was out now, soon so would the truth.

There was silence around the room for a moment. Ashley and Jo remained seated on the bed, Dean and Sam were standing near them, Ellen was standing by the window, keeping an eye outside all the time, while Bobby was guarding the door and Castiel stood in one corner with his arms folded on his chest, waiting patiently.

"No. I'm not a hunter, though I'm guessing that you all must be hunters, since each of you has a gun. I do know all about hunters, you all hunt Demons, the demons that come from hell. And there are things such as ghosts, vampires, zombies, werewolves, wendigos, shape-shifters and a lot of other scary things." Ashley remained calm while she spoke.

"How?" Sam questioned. " If you're not a hunter then what are you? A demon?" he seemed a bit skeptical.

"A demon and me?" Ashley's eyes grew wide while she choked by a laugh. "No, I'm not a demon, I'm a researcher. I studied at Duke University and majored in History. I've always been fascinated by the paranormal things in the world, but I didn't believe in the nonsense that they show on T.V or in movies so I began to search for hard evidence about the supernatural things for my thesis. I discovered that there were real incidents where people either disappeared or were killed and that there were unexplained animal attacks and other weird things. Once I finished my graduation, I became a research assistant at an archaeological institute, which is what I use as a cover. Eventually, I started digging up more information and I discovered that there are people who actually save innocent lives from these demons and creatures, Hunters." Ashley explained. "I haven't exactly come face to face with anything before, not until tonight... with the hellhounds, I'd just read about them..." She drifted off then, trying to block her memories of the attack.

"So what brought you here tonight?" Sam asked. He wasn't being rude or harsh with her, and Ashley understood that which is why she spoke easily, telling everyone everything.

"I've been living here for about a month. I came to town because I read about some odd occurrences happening here and wanted to check it out. I was at the library tonight because there was a lady who was supposed to meet me there at 10, she called me saying that my professor had given her my number. She told me that she believed her house was haunted and there was a ghost trying to kill her, it had already kidnapped her niece two days ago." Ashley was cut off from there by Ellen.

"I remember that. It was in the papers. A missing 7 year old girl, her name was Emily McKinney." Ellen told the others.

"Wasn't there another missing child case about two weeks ago?" Bobby spoke up, "Four towns from here, there was an 8 year old boy who went missing as well. Think there's a connection between the two?" he said.

"There could be one." Dean decided to speak first before Sam started again. "Ashley, what happened when you went to the library?" He asked her even though he had a strange feeling that he knew the answer already.

"I went there at 9 thinking I could find a few books for my research. There were about a dozen more people with me so I sat in the lounge and started to read. I waited till 10:30 but Mrs. McKinney didn't show up. I tried calling her number but she didn't answer my calls so I left the library and started walking towards my apartment, I had barely walked a block when I heard the hounds barking, at first I thought that they were just stray dogs but when I reached an alley near the park, I saw something." She stopped talking suddenly, and fell silent.

Dean sat down on the bed opposite Jo and signaled Sam to sit down on the chair. He knew that everyone was staying quiet until Ashley was fine with talking about her attack; they all were experienced hunters but she wasn't and they understood that she was still shaken up over what had happened.

"It's alright, you don't need to tell us what happened." It wasn't Dean who spoke to Ashley but Jo. The young blonde hunter smiled, "You're safe with us." she told her.

"I'm okay. I just don't understand why…" She drifted off for a second before continuing with her story, "I saw the shadow of a man standing at the end of the alley while I was walking by but it was too dark to make out anything; he was whistling softly to himself and I was walking by when I stopped because I saw him patting thin air; his hand was a good three feet from the ground and the growling was coming from there. I realized what they were and started to walk away quickly. Whoever that man was waited for a minute before he sent the hounds after me, I was reaching the end of the block… they caught up to me twice and scratched me, but I managed to escape, after that I ran until I reached the dead end where Dean, Sam and Castiel found me." Ashley ended her narration, and unconsciously her hand went to her stomach as she remembered the wound over there; it was only then did she realize that there weren't any injuries on her.

She looked down at her arms, which were healed. Her back and stomach were healed as well. There weren't any bruises or scratches anywhere. Ashley was shocked; she didn't understand how that had happened. She looked up at Dean, then turned to Jo, with confusion written all over her face.

"I'm healed. How? I…. where are the scars?" She wasn't able to comprehend how all her injuries had just vanished from her body leaving no trace at all. There was simply her own skin, which wasn't even pink. No marks, no scars, no bruises. "What happened to me?" She asked them, looking shocked.

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**Please R&R! ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you to my reviewers: **Bekyg620, Splishboom, WhitneySheree and Magdailovecastiel.**

**Disclaimer: **I own none of the characters except for the story lines and the fact that I've kept them alive!

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_"What happened to me?" She asked them, looking shocked._

"And why I was attacked by the hounds? I mean... is it because of the McKinney case?" Ashley asked Dean. She was still confused as to why out of nowhere, she had been attacked by three hellhounds.

"No. I don't think that was it," Dean started to say, he didn't want to tell Ashley that she was being targeted by Heaven and Hell, "It must have been a random attack, that's what usually happens with paranormal attacks."

"Okay, so I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." She surmised, "And my lack of injuries is because...?" Ashley waited for someone to finish her sentence.

Dean and Jo exchanged a look before turning to Sam, Bobby and Ellen. The three of them just nodded without saying anything. They believed that Ashley was telling them the truth, so she also deserved to know how she had been healed. And since she knew about them being hunters and knew of the existence of demons and monsters, then the truth about Castiel wouldn't be too hard to explain.

"It was Cas. He healed you while you were unconscious." Dean answered, breaking the eerie silence that had suddenly risen in the room.

Ashley's eyes went wide. She looked at Dean and then her eyes fell on Castiel; she had forgotten that he was still there with the others in the room. He had remained silent all this time without saying a word. She stared at him for a moment nervously. There was obviously something about him that wasn't normal. As if reading her thoughts, Dean continued his explanation.

"Cas isn't a hunter really. He's… well he isn't human for that matter. Well not literally human. But he's getting there slowly." Ashley's head snapped away from Castiel and turned to face Dean, she was still speechless.

"Don't worry, he isn't a demon." Jo chimed in, knowing that Dean was behaving funny at the wrong time. "Castiel's an Angel."

Silence again. Everyone was now looking at Ashley; waiting to see how she handled the information she had been told. It was confidential; they didn't go around telling other hunters that they had an angel with them, let alone normal civilians. But Ashley wasn't a normal civilian. They would have brushed her off as another victim of a demon attack but because they had been targeted at the same time, they knew that there was something going on, something that was being carried out by the demons, but under whose orders?

"An angel." Ashley repeated, finding her voice at last. "Angels. You mean… they exist? Like demons do?" She wasn't talking to Jo or Dean or any one of them, she was talking to herself.

"Yes, they exist too. Castiel's an angel from heaven. He's our guardian you could say, he rescued me from Hell." Dean had known that Ashley was someone who wouldn't laugh such a thing off or stare blankly at everyone thinking they were crazy.

"You were in Hell?" Ashley's voice was tinged with shock.

"It's a long story. I made a deal with a demon to bring Sammy back to life, he had died in a fight. I gave my life for his. Got a year to live, was attacked by Hellhounds, died and went to Hell. Four months later, though it was 40 years down there, Castiel… what was it you said to me exactly Cas? He gripped me and raised me from perdition. Saved my life. Brought me back to life actually." Dean smirked, he was trying to make sure that Ashley understood that they were telling her the truth.

"If you're an Angel, can you prove it?" Ashley met Castiel's lingering gaze that had been on her for a few minutes now. She turned to him and locked eyes. Even though there was a dim light in the room on the opposite side she could make out his eyes were blue as well, a different shade than hers but blue nonetheless.

Castiel uncrossed his arms and started to walk across the room towards them. He reached the bedside and stood there staring at her, but not meeting her eyes.

"You're not going to go all light flickering and glass shattering on us or anything are you?" Bobby asked Castiel suddenly, remembering how he and Dean had first met Castiel.

"No." Castiel didn't elaborate any further; he turned to face Jo. "Your arm, it is still hurt." He stated.

"Yea… some demon tried to carve me with his knife. It was useless against Ruby's knife" Jo replied with a dry laugh.

"May I?" Castiel asked her as he held out a hand.

"Sure. Go ahead. Do your angel mojo already." Jo gave him her right hand that had just been newly bandaged.

Castiel quickly unwrapped the bandage that covered her arm and Ashley saw a big red scratch that looked as if it would start bleeding again. She looked on as Castiel placed two fingers on her skin, and watched it heal in less than a second. He had healed her.

"You _are_ an angel." Ashley sounded amazed; there was an angel in front of her. An actual angel from heaven.

"Yes. I am an angel of the lord." Castiel answered, but still avoided looking into Ashley's eyes.

"That means… the archangels are real as well. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael… are they all on Earth?" She was in awe of the being standing in the room with her and the others right now.

"Yes. They are very much real. Raphael and Gabriel walk the earth at the moment. Each angel that comes to Earth takes a human vessel, it is the only way we can walk amongst you all without harming anyone with our true form." Castiel explained.

"Your true form…?" Ashley seemed flustered by now.

"Cas is actually as tall as the Chrysler building, his voice is so loud and high-pitched that all we hear is a loud shrilly noise that makes our ears bleed and is made up of pure light." Dean gave Ashley a quick run-down of the explanation, before Castiel could say anything.

"Oh." Ashley didn't know if there was anything else that would make her more surprised and amazed at the same time.

"I hate to cut the angel history lesson here, but we have a problem at hand." Ellen told them as she suddenly picked up her rifle and loaded it.

"Mom? What is it?" Jo asked Ellen as her hand instinctively went to her boot from where she removed Ruby's knife and picked up her gun as well.

Sam and Bobby were closer to the window where Ellen had been keeping watch. The two of them took one glance outside and quickly withdrew, both of them looking disturbed by what they had seen.

"Sammy, what's out there?" Dean asked his brother. They had faced so much together and yet at that moment, Dean knew that this was not going to be the usual fight.

Sam didn't say anything. He quickly crossed the room and started pouring salt all around. Dean left Jo standing with Ashley, and he and Castiel headed for the nearest window and looked outside. The sight that met their eyes was one of horror. Standing in the middle of the hundreds of abandoned cars, a good 50 feet away from the house was a group of demons, 9 in total; all of them armed with some weapon or the other. But what made Dean's blood boil was the sight of the tenth demon, the one standing in the front of the group, who was staring up at the house at Dean, smirking evilly.

"Who is that?" Castiel asked Dean, noticing that he had suddenly become very stiff and there was an anger blazing in his green eyes.

"Alistair."

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**Haha! Cliffhanger! Sorry about that! Don't stop reviewing though! ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you to my lovely reviewers: **Bekyg620, WhitneySheree, Splishboom and Magdailovecastiel**. Always look forward to your comments!

**Disclaimer: **Eric Kripke owns Supernatural. I own this fanfic.

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Hearing that name coming from Dean sent a ripple of fear through everyone standing in the room. He and Castiel backed away from the window. Dean noticed that Bobby had left the room, mostly heading down to the basement to get more weapons for them. He was a little unnerved by what he had just seen; 10 demons at one time, something like this had never happened before, not even last year when they had fought against Lilith's followers.

"Alistair?" Jo seemed perplexed, "Didn't Sam kill him last year after he was tortured by you?" Her question was obviously for Dean, who was surprised that in spite of everything that had happened, he still could recognize Alistair anywhere.

"Well apparently he didn't die and somehow he's back." Dean replied, sounding emotionless suddenly. "He has a new form now; he must have taken someone else as his vessel."

"That is impossible. Sam used his powers to destroy the demon's essence. Alistair should be dead." Castiel too was disturbed on seeing Alistair, he remembered Uriel and what had happened to him last year, but decided not to dwell on the past.

"Okay, so this demon is supposed to be dead, but isn't and now he's bought an army of demons with him here to do what?" Ellen asked, "If he wanted to attack us, then why hasn't he done that yet?" She knew that there was something that wasn't right with the whole scenario here.

"He obviously wants to draw us out of the house where we'll be unprotected…" Sam explained. "We're going to have to attack from inside, through the windows and make sure that they don't get in."

"No." Dean said firmly, getting raised eyebrows from everyone in the room, including Ashley, even though he knew that she didn't know him well, she had an idea about how grave the situation was. He knew it was suicidal but he had to try his idea out first.

"What do you mean by 'no' Dean?" Jo asked him, facing him directly, "What else can we do but fight?" She knew him too well and had an inkling about what was going on in his mind.

"I'm gonna go outside and talk to him. Alistair obviously wants to have a chat with me first, so I'll give him what he wants." Dean told her, and the others.

"Are you out of your mind?" Jo nearly yelled. "You're just going to _walk _outside and face ten demons with one gun and _TALK_?" She was trying to stay calm, but it was at times like these when she felt that Dean needed to use his brain.

"No. I'll be going out unarmed." He replied, sounding casual.

"Oh, that makes it even more better then… why don't you just go and hand yourself over to Alistair and let us all die trying to save you." Jo was really angry now, and knew she shouldn't say such things to Dean, but he didn't know how much his idea was scaring her.

"That's the thing, he doesn't want me." Dean said as he grabbed his gun, it was time to face Alistair, "He wants Ashley." He was about to walk out the door when Ashley grabbed his hand.

"If he wants me then why are you going? Let me go." She told him.

"Are you suicidal or something?" Dean asked her.

"Are you?" She retaliated, "Look, I'm grateful that you guys saved my life and all, but if there are ten demons out there then I don't want anyone risking their lives for me." She stood up and walked over to Dean. "I'll make things easier if I go." She looked at him, eye to eye hoping that he would understand her, but she didn't know how stubborn, adamant, and hell-bent on protecting the ones he cared about was.

"To die? They obviously don't want to take you out for dinner; and besides you're forgetting that we have our very own personalized doc right here," Dean said, pointing to Cas, "It won't kill him to heal a few injuries… so you're not going anywhere. Cas, Jo, guard her will you? Sammy, you and Ellen go help Bobby." Dean felt a little odd giving out orders to his friends, but he knew that being the only one to have ever gone up against Alistair, they were all depending on him in some way or the other to get out of this mess in one piece.

He left the room then, knowing that precious time was being wasted. He reached the front door and hesitated for a split second before shoving all doubts from his mind and opened the door and walked outside. Alistair heard him coming and surely enough, once Dean reached close enough, he saw the demon smile at him and raised his hand, signaling his lackeys to lower their weapons.

"Dean! So nice of you to finally grace us with your presence. How are you?" Alistair sounded as if he and Dean were meeting for a picnic.

"Cut the crap Alistair, how the hell are you still alive? Sammy exorcised you last year, all that smoke burning to Hell, should have killed you." Dean was in no mood to play games with Alistair.

"Dean, Dean, Dean… do you really think that I'm that stupid to let myself be killed by your demon brother or by one of your angel pals?" Alistair said mockingly, "The demon in that meat suit was a duplicate. I got out, sent some fool in." He started laughing then.

"You must have done that sometime after I tortured you, because I'd know if there was another jackass in that meat suit instead of you." Dean retorted back.

Alistair stopped laughing then. He moved towards Dean, who didn't raise his gun. He had been joking when he had told Jo he was going to face the demons unarmed. But one gun against ten demons was as good as having no gun at all.

"Watch your tongue boy." Alistair sneered, "Don't you remember your time in Hell? Do you want to go back for second innings?" He laughed again.

"Thanks but no thanks, I'll pass this time. I'll have to be satisfied with just killing all of you right here, right now." Dean smirked at them all.

"Now, now Dean… who said anything about killing anyone?" Alistair feigned being upset, "We don't want to fight you, or your friends either. We just want what you have, give it to us and no one will be harmed." Alistair held out his hands as a peace offering.

"Yeah right, and I'm just gonna believe that you'll take the girl and leave without causing any bloodshed…" Dean scoffed.

"I'm heart broken that you think of us that way Dean… we demons don't just kill people all the time, we do it because you humans leave us no choice. But you have a choice here Dean, give us the girl. I give you my word that no one will be harmed." Alistair tried to reason with Dean.

"And what makes you think that I'm going to just hand over an innocent girl to a bunch of demons who're going to kill her the minute you get your hands on her?" Dean asked Alistair.

"I see. So you're not going to give up the girl the easy way," Alistair simply said. "I wish it didn't have to come to this Dean." He clicked his fingers together and behind him, the nine demons unsheathed their weapons and grinned, it was time to fight.

"Bring it on you son of a bitch…" Dean snarled at Alistair, loading his gun.

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**Sorry for the cliffhanger again! Even though its a late update, I still managed to get it up tonight only! Please R&R ^_^**


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks to **Splishboom, Magdailovecastiel and WhitneySheree** for your amazing reviews!

**A/N: **I apologize for the delay and this probably is a small chapter which isn't enough to make up for the long wait, but I have a surprise at the end!

**Disclaimer: **I don't know how many times I'm going to wish that I owned Cas, but I'm going to mention it every time I can! Still, everything is owned by Eric Kripke.

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Back inside the house, upstairs in the guest bedroom, Ashley had fallen silent, she hadn't been able to argue her point anymore knowing that Castiel was there to help them out and she was very relieved to know that there was an angel on their side. She looked over to where he stood, discussing something with Jo, Dean had already left the room; for some reason she was tempted to go and take a look at the scene through the window but resisted; she was the demons' target and showing herself completely healed from the hell hound attack didn't seem like the greatest idea. So she went back and sat down on the bed and waited.

A few moments had passed and all was silent outside, Castiel was standing by the window watching Dean's every step. Jo was busy sitting next to Ashley sharpening her knife and re-loading her gun every two minutes. The third time she snapped her gun and unlocked the safety, Castiel suddenly became alert and moved away from the window.

"What is it Cas?" Jo asked him, looking worried. Something must have definitely gone wrong.

"Stay here." He replied as he removed his angel sword from his trench coat, his face looked grim.

"Is Dean okay?" She left her gun on the bed and stood up, heading for the window, but Castiel stopped her.

"He is fine. The 'talk' did not go as planned. Sam, Bobby and Ellen are heading outside now. I must go and help them. You will stay here and protect the girl." Castiel let go of Jo's hand and simply disappeared into thin air before she could protest.

Ashley, who hadn't known about Castiel's teleportation abilities looked visibly alarmed with her eyes wide open again. "So much for thinking that there wasn't anything else that could surprise me." She mumbled.

"Yeah… Cas has a habit of silently vanishing and sneaking up on people. It freaks me out sometimes to be so quiet and stealthy. He's an amazing fighter." Jo said as she slumped down on the bed again.

Ashley looked at Jo with a sad smile on her face; they seemed to have a bit of an age difference between them, but Ashley knew what the other girl was thinking about right now.

"Aren't you going to go? To fight with the others I mean… I'm sure you want to help your friends out." She said to Jo.

"I do want to go and its maddening that I can't." Jo sighed, "But I'm obviously not here only to protect you… you're protecting me as well." Jo told Ashley.

"What do you mean?"

"Its Dean. Ever since the mission we went on a few months ago to Carthage, Missouri, he's become more protective of me then ever… not that I mind that, I mean, I get why he'd be worried; my insides were practically ripped open by hellhounds..." Ashley gasped when she heard Jo recounting her near-death experience.

"What happened then?" Ashley was still in a state of shock, how had Jo survived?

"He somehow managed to get Cas to me who had been trapped somewhere else, if he hadn't made it, Cas wouldn't have been able to save me on time. Dean's never wanted me to be a hunter, it wasn't a choice for him and Sam, they had no other alternative, neither did my mom or Bobby for that matter, but they thought I had one. They don't get that there's nothing more important to me than family and if hunting is the best way to not only keep them safe but save other people as well, then I wouldn't take any other alternative." Jo explained. "But sometimes he behaves worse than my mom!" She added with a grumble.

Ashley was about to say something when they heard the first noise of the fight; a dozen gunshots ripping through the air, followed by loud barking. The girls exchanged a worried look and ran to the window from where they got a view of the fight and surely enough, judging by what they saw, they realized that Alistair had brought Hellhounds with him.

"We have to go now!" Jo said as she grabbed her gun from the floor. "Come on!" she grabbed Ashley's hand and the two of them ran outside, down the stairs where they spotted Bobby running out the door.

"Jo wait!" Ashley stopped the hunter for a second, "I can't go outside. There's ten demons against six of you, one of them will get to me." She told her.

"You're right. Here take this," Jo said as she handed over Ruby's knife to Ashley. "This will kill any demon that tries to come near you, just one jab and its dead, okay? Stay in the house, inside a circle of salt." She left Ashley standing in the hall and ran outside.

Ashley didn't know how much time had gone by since Jo had left her to join the fight. She did know that it was extremely brutal, considering that there were Hellhounds out there as well. Every second or two she would hear them barking but it would almost be cut off immediately as they were defeated. The gunshot noises were deafening; she shivered as she thought about what was going on, she prayed that no one was badly hurt. Several more seconds seemed to pass by, or was it minutes? She couldn't tell, her heart was beating fast against her chest as the screams started to come. Her hand was sweating from gripping the handle of the knife tightly. A sudden crash from the corridor made her jump slightly; she was about to step over the salt line, when she stopped herself.

"_It could be a trick…_" She thought, hoping that it wasn't; that maybe it wasn't a demon but one of her friends coming to check on her.

Ashley's attention was focused on the noise that had come from barely fifty feet away from her; she knew that she was safe from the demons inside the salt line, but knowing that they wanted to kill her didn't make her feel very safe. There was silence inside the house, the fight outside was like radio static to her ears now. She waited, not daring to call out attention to where exactly she was. A long, heart-thudding second passed and there was a thud from outside again. Before she could move, a figure stumbled into the hall and Ashley nearly screamed. She ran out of the salt circle to the figure and grabbed a hold of him; she knew it wasn't Jo or Ellen because she could hear them outside, and it wasn't Bobby either, he was too young to be Bobby.

The darkness in the corridor was too much for her to make out who it was - Sam, Castiel or Dean? Whoever he was, he had been badly injured. He was bent over, clutching his chest, breathing heavily and Ashley could feel his blood trickling through the fingers as she held his arm; she helped him walk slowly towards the sofa and he nearly collapsed then. She managed to steady her breathing and bracing herself for the worst, she brushed the hair from his face and gasped when she saw who it was.

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Sorry for the cliffhanger again! I know the chapter is really short, and I left you all hanging again, but hopefully the surprise should help! Don't forget to review!

**Surprise: **I have one more chapter coming up for you guys tonight only!** Chapter 9** is coming up right after this! ^_^


	9. Chapter 9

A big thank you to my readers: **WhitneySheree, Bekyg620 and Splishboom **for your awesome comments! I wasn't planning on giving two chapters today... was thinking of three... but maybe in the next few chapters! ^_^

**So here it is! Chapter no. 9, with a nice little something that everyone (hopefully) has been looking forward to!**

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"Oh God!" Ashley felt a shiver run down her spine. "Castiel!" She whispered.

Hearing her voice, he looked up at her. There was a big cut on his red cheek that was still bleeding and his eyes seemed dull in the darkness; he shifted a little and groaned when he tried moving too soon, Ashley caught hold of his hand and felt blood there too. Castiel winced a bit and Ashley heard a whisper from him.

"Help me up…" he told her.

"What? No… Castiel, you're badly hurt. You need to stay here and wait till you're healed." Ashley said as she shook her head.

"No. We have… we have to get out… of here now. They want you… we need to leave…" Castiel spoke slowly, breathing heavily as each word came out.

"And go where? What about the others? How will they find us?" Ashley was trying to stay calm but she couldn't control the shaking in her voice. She thought she felt Castiel shudder against her, but then realized that she was trembling.

"Safe house. We need to go now." Castiel tried getting up again, this time Ashley complied and gripping his hand tighter, she helped him to stand and used her other hand to hold his back.

"Why aren't you healing?" She asked him, she knew that it wasn't good if he continued to talk but the fact that the angel wasn't showing any signs of healing was scaring her.

"Angel sword. Alistair… had one… it is… only thing… can kill angels…" He replied.

"But you're still alive…" Ashley stopped herself, the questions could be answered later, right now she had to get Castiel out of there before the demons got to them. "How are we getting to the safe house?" she asked him, changing the question.

In response, Castiel stood upright and placed his hand on her shoulder and a second later, Bobby's house and the fight outside had vanished. Ashley suddenly found herself and Castiel standing in another dark hallway. He nearly collapsed then, but she managed to steady him. She looked around the house in which they were, it was an old abandoned place, but seemed as if it was used by someone recently. The furniture in the hall was scarce, the curtains were drawn and on the ceiling there was a pentagram drawn in red… blood? Ashley decided she didn't want to know, and made her way across the hall where she found the staircase. Slowly and carefully, she helped Castiel to walk upstairs, he was still conscious but had fallen silent. A few minutes later, they had reached the landing and spotting the first open door, Ashley led Castiel inside a bedroom where she gently laid him down on the bed.

She stood up, breathing slowly now. Her heart was still beating rapidly against her chest and she had to place her hand to slow it down. A minute later, she opened her eyes and turning around she found the light switch by the wall; she flicked it on and a dim light shone from the ceiling. It was enough for her, she didn't like the darkness anymore, not after what had happened to her that night.

"_Alright, calm down now." _She told herself as she decided that she needed to be in a better state of mind to handle the situation. "First things first, I need to get him some first-aid." She said out loud.

Taking a quick sweep of the room she was standing in, which was like any other usual room, ivory walls, a closet, the king-sized bed on which Castiel lay, a chest of drawers and a painting. There were no supplies in the room, so Ashley quietly tiptoed outside and headed down the corridor towards the what she hoped was the bathroom, where after switching on the light, she found a first-aid kit on the shelf. She quickly grabbed it and returned to the room. Her feet felt cold as they touched the marble floor, she had removed her shoes back when she was with Jo in Bobby's house.

How long ago had that been? It couldn't have been more than an hour ago, or was it more? She had lost track of time and had more important things to worry about. She crossed the room to the bed where Castiel was and tried not to get freaked out by his injuries, because wherever she looked, there was blood all around. She placed the kit on the table by the bed and sat down.

"Okay… umm… blood. Lots of blood." Her voice was soft, but luckily it wasn't shaking anymore.

She stared at the angel for a second, taking in his features for a moment; he looked peaceful in spite of being covered in blood, Ashley assumed it was part of being an angel. Assessing his injuries, she thought it best to fix his major wounds first before moving on to the less harmful ones. Ashley noted that his chest was the one part of his body that was badly hurt. As she shifted closer to him to remove his shirt, she realized that his trench coat wasn't on him anymore. He was only dressed in a white shirt and his tie was half ripped off. She slowly slipped the tie off and unbuttoned the shirt and nearly bit back a loud gasp when she saw his bare chest. His skin was no longer one color, most of it was red, covered with dozens of cuts and scratches and a big wound that was still bleeding near his stomach from where he had been stabbed. There was also a blackish purple bruise near his lungs.

Ashley bit her tongue, she felt her eyes stinging as she opened the first aid box and noticed that her hands had started trembling again. She ripped off some cotton and started to clean his wounds. When she was done, she placed a gauze pad on the stab wound and hastily taped it tightly. Once she finished, she moved to clean the cut on his face and soon there was only a tiny red scar on his cheek. It took her a while but in the end, Ashley felt a little relieved when she saw that Castiel didn't look horribly injured anymore. She had tied up his hurt leg as well and was about to go to wash herself of his blood when the phone next to her suddenly rang. She realized that it was Castiel's cell phone and picked it up.

"Hello…?" Ashley whispered, as she stood up.

"_Ashley!" _Dean's voice screamed through the phone. _"Thank god! Are you alright? Where are you?" _He asked her.

"I'm fine. I'm with Castiel. He… brought us to some safe house. I don't know where…" Her voice trailed off.

"_Its in Illinois, we're about an hour away from you. Stay where you are with Cas and demon-proof the entire house with salt. We'll be there as soon as we can." _Dean told her.

"Alright, but please hurry." She said, not meaning to sound scared, but she was and she didn't know what to do.

"_Ashley?" _Dean had apparently caught the note of fear in her voice and was talking softly now, _"What is it? Did something happen?"_ He asked her, sounding concerned.

"Its… its Castiel. He… he's hurt badly and… he… Dean, he isn't healing." She finally said it out loud.

There was silence from Dean's side for about a second, Ashley could hear him talking to Sam in the background and figured he was telling his brother about what she had just said. He then came back on the line.

"_How badly is Cas injured?" _He asked her.

"He was stabbed near the stomach, I patched him up the best I could. His wounds aren't bleeding anymore." She answered him honestly.

"_Good. That's good. Don't worry, we're reaching you soon. Just keep an eye on him okay? And take care of yourself too." _Dean advised her.

"Yea… I will. Bye." Ashley said as she kept the phone and sighed. She closed her eyes and let a tear fall down before she opened them, took a deep breath and composed herself.

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**Not a big cliffhanger this time! Please don't forget to R&R! ^_^**


	10. Chapter 10

To my faithful and constant readers: **WhitneySheree, Bekyg620 and Splishboom**, thank you for your lovely reviews! I look forward to updating the story daily only because of all the great comments that I get from you all! So here's the next chapter!

**Disclaimer: **Must I do this all the time? Fine... instead of wishing for Castiel... this time, I wish that Misha Collins was mine! ^_^

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Ashley left the phone in the room and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. She removed something from inside her pocket; the tap was still running when she splashed some cold water on her face and she looked up to find her reflection staring back at her in the mirror and stared at her eyes closely for a minute. The girl in the mirror looked nothing like the one that had gazed at her in the morning. This girl looked drained - mentally, emotionally and physically with dark circles under her eyes and a tiny cut on her lip. She gripped the sides of the sink and felt her knees nearly give away, but she managed to steady herself, run a hand over her face and slip whatever it was she had removed back into her pocket and left the bathroom before she lost control over her body.

Walking along the corridor, she remembered that Dean had told her to block the doors and windows with salt. It was going to be a tedious task, but she knew that it was crucial for all of their safety, and so she headed downstairs to the kitchen and after rummaging through a few cupboards, found a sack of salt in the pantry and set to work. She poured the salt along the windowsill in the kitchen then all the windows in the hall and the main door, before heading back upstairs to salt the three rooms and the bathroom.

There was a clock in the passageway and for the first time that night, she found that all this work had taken her a good half an hour, which left her with another half an hour to spend before Dean and the others reached the house. After leaving the salt by the wall outside the bedroom, she walked in to check on Castiel.

"Please let him have healed…" Ashley prayed. She didn't understand what had happened and why the angel wasn't waking up.

It scared her to think that someone as powerful as Castiel, was no match against a demon like Alistair. If Castiel hadn't survived fighting the demon in one piece, she knew that there was absolutely no chance for her. She wasn't a hunter and had no means of defending herself against any trouble. Sitting down on the bed beside Castiel once again, and saw that he was still unconscious and still unhealed.

Ashley sighed softly as she removed the weapon Jo had given her before the fight; Jo had called it Ruby's knife, it had a deadly appearance and knowing that it could kill demons instead of them simply being exorcised, Ashley knew that this was no simple knife, it was magical and must have belonged to someone powerful. She laid it on the table, a knife like that was useless to someone who did not know how to use it.

Ashley then turned her attention to Castiel. He was lying on the bed, with his eyes closed as if he were asleep, his chest was still exposed and there was a big white bandage covering his wound. The red cuts were reduced to tiny scars that were turning pink already. He was healing, but slowly, for an angel that is. For a normal human, Castiel was healing normally. She sat there, just staring at him.

There was silence all around, the only noise heard was the sound of her heartbeat and his slow, constricted breathing. She felt something pulling her to him, like an invisible string and she suddenly lifted her hand and placed it on top of his. The skin underneath her delicate fingers felt smooth, save for the few callous blisters on his knuckles that were still red. Very slowly, Ashley's fingers started to move of their own accord; her eyes were still transfixed on his face while her hand was gently caressing his.

"Castiel…" She said his name, trying to see if he would awaken.

There was some unknown ache in her heart that was rising each second that passed by. He had saved her life from the hell hounds that night and had rescued her from those demons now as well. He was her savior, her protector, her…

"What the…?" Ashley was surprised by the last thought she hadn't completed. She shouldn't be thinking like that. It wasn't right. And yet… she couldn't figure out why there was this _thing_ that attracted not only her mind or her body to Castiel, she could feel her soul, her very essence of being attracted to him. It was an overwhelming feeling and Ashley was frightened. She didn't even know him at all. He was an Angel. A real angel from Heaven.

"How could… why would…" She didn't complete her thought again but removed her hand from on top of his and stood up.

Luckily, there was a chair on the other side of the bed. Ashley walked around and sat down there, not daring to glimpse at Castiel for more than 5 seconds. A few minutes went by and all she did was rock the chair back and forth, without it creaking. Just then, Ashley glanced at the window and saw headlights approaching the house. She stood up and walked over and saw a familiar black Impala along with a truck pull up outside the house. They had finally reached. Ashley quickly ran downstairs to help Dean and the others in case they too were injured; she was so engrossed in reaching the door that she didn't notice Castiel before she had left the room. He was still unconscious, but his finger had started to twitch all of a sudden.

_It was dark all around. He couldn't see anything in front of him, there was nothing but blackness everywhere and he was standing in the middle of it. Up, down, left, right, nothing was definite. Was he outside or inside something he did not know, but at least he was not falling. Very carefully, he held out a hand in front of him and tried to find some surface to touch; it was cold. Nothing else but air. He took a step forward and found that he could walk, there was something under his feet allowing him to walk, but whether it was something solid or again simply air, he had no idea. _

"_Where am I? What is this place? Why is it so dark here?" He asked himself. Hearing his voice echo around him._

_He felt blind in this darkness, in this unknown place where it seemed no one else was. He was all alone, walking along something that he thought could be a path. But a path to what exactly? He had walked several steps, but hadn't collided with anyone or anything. He was about to give up and stay where he was when he heard something. It wasn't coming from one direction, but from all sides. A voice. A soft voice of a woman. She was saying something. A name. His name._

"_Castiel…"_ _He heard the voice call out his name. He tried to reach out, to find the voice. It was the way out. He knew that it was the way out. The voice kept on repeating his name over and over again. He started to walk quicker, turning left sometimes, turning right. He was walking without looking, without thinking, just trying to find the voice. He had heard it before, a very long time ago and he knew __whom it belonged to. It was someone he had known for a very long time. What was Her name?_

_He suddenly found himself reliving a past memory. One that had happened many, many years ago. He saw a younger version of himself in front of his eyes, in the same form that he was in now, standing with someone, a woman who was dressed in white from head to toe, and wore a silver circlet on her forehead. He, the present him, moved closer. The two people were sitting together in the sunlight by a fountain in a garden. As he reached them, he saw that he could make out the face of the woman, it was Her. The same person to whom the mysterious voice belonged. The voice that had led him here. He gazed up at her, staring into her eyes. She had the most beautiful eyes that were filled with warmth and a sparkling glow. _

_Castiel found himself thinking. He had seen those eyes somewhere else. He thought hard and closed his own eyes for a second and remembered. He remembered Raphael's words. He remembered a girl, and Hellhounds, the beasts of hell chasing her through an alleyway. He remembered saving her from those creatures and killing them all. He remembered holding her in his arms as he carried her to a car. He remembered seeing her eyes flutter open before closing again. He remembered seeing a pair of blue eyes staring at him. He remembered whose eyes they were. He remembered Her._

"Aurora!" Castiel called out, bolting upright on the bed, his hand outstretched in mid-air, his eyes wide open.

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**A/N: **So there you go, another cliffhanger! Reviews will be much appreciated ^_^


	11. Chapter 11

A big thanks to my reviewers: **WhitneySheree, Agent007Tomato, Splishboom and Magdailovecastiel.**

**A/N: **Okay so here's the thing, I was still on vacation when I started the fic, technically I had got back from one half of it, since I was in Los Angeles, then I went to New Jersey and now I'm really heading home to India. Thats why the update's come late, because I was on the flight, I'm in Brussel's now but here's the next chapter!

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He was in a room, somewhere in Illinois. Castiel remembered the fight with Alistair, with him getting stabbed and then escaping with the girl, Ashley and then teleporting them here.

"Aurora…" He whispered softly. "How is it possible?" He asked himself, not understanding the dream he had just had. "Is she Aurora?" Confused, he lay back on the bed once again.

Castiel closed his eyes and started to meditate, he needed his mind to relax in order for him to access the memory he was looking for. It was an old and painful one that had been buried deep in his sub-conscious mind many years ago, a long time before he had taken Jimmy Novak as his vessel. It took him several seconds, during which he heard nothing of anyone else downstairs, and he was relieved that he was able to think about this unusual occurrence on his own. Within a minute or two, he recalled the incident.

He had been in Heaven at the time, training the other angels with Uriel when it happened. Being an angel meant that Castiel had more control over his mind than humans did and before the memory actually played out in his mind, he jumped to the end, and when he remembered, he knew. He knew that this girl, Ashley in the house with him was not Aurora; he remembered holding Aurora's form gently in his arms as she slowly lost her life, her last word with her last breath being his name; mysterious as her death was, Castiel knew that once Aurora was dead, there was no coming back from it. Ever.

"Cas!" Dean's voice rung out, his footsteps loud and quick on the staircase.

A few seconds later, Dean had entered the room followed by Ashley, Sam and Jo. Ellen and Bobby were nowhere to be seen, but judging from the sounds coming from below, they seemed to be all right. Castiel still felt weak, but he re-opened his eyes and saw his friends standing by the foot of the bed.

"Dean. You are wounded." He said as he observed Dean's injuries. Glancing at Sam and Jo, he saw that they were considerably less hurt, and Cas knew that it was because Dean had suffered more injuries trying to protect them both.

"Nah, don't worry about me. Just a few scratches. I'll be okay." Dean reassured Castiel, giving his trademark grin, "It's you I'm worried about Cas; Ashley told me you're not healing. What happened to you back there?" He asked his friend, looking very concerned.

Castiel took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second reliving the fight that had taken place about two, three? Hours ago and then spoke.

"I believe that when Alistair stabbed me while I was in my true form, it did not kill me but stripped me of my powers." It was the only understandable explanation.

"So Alistair burned himself trying to kill you but you ended up turning human?" Dean phrased, trying to make sense of what Castiel had just said.

"Yes. That is what must have happened." Castiel answered again.

"So, how long is this gonna last?" Dean put forward the dreaded question, "Are you all out of Angel mojo for good? Are you permanently gonna be human?" He had not wanted to ask Castiel this, but he needed to hear the answer.

There was silence all around the room; Ashley had been fixing up Jo and Sam quietly all this time, but all three of them looked at Dean and Castiel when they heard Dean's question. They saw Dean standing with his arms crossed looking forlorn and Castiel was deep in thought. When he spoke again, they all were alert.

"No." Castiel replied. "I am not permanently out of my angel mojo as you call it Dean," he went on, noticing Dean's relief. "But… I am human for now, until I am completely rested, my powers will not return. It could be days or weeks before I return to normal, as you say all the time." Castiel explained.

"That means you're under house arrest till then Cas." Dean ordered him.

"House arrest?" Castiel was confused, "I do not understand that reference. I have not committed any crime." His eyes were wide and puppy-eyed like always when something unusual did not make sense to him.

"I meant that you're out of action from now onwards Cas, no more fighting for you until you're juiced up on your mojo again. You're going to stay indoors all the time." Dean sighed as he elaborated, he knew that no matter if Castiel had his powers or not, he wouldn't understand any 'human references.'

"I see." Was all Castiel said. "What are you planning to do next?" He asked Dean and Sam.

"Well with Alistair and his demon pals dead, we're back to hunting supernatural occurrences, and seeing as we have Ashley's case on hand, we're going to head back to Sioux Falls day after tomorrow, once we've all rested." Sam said speaking up at last.

"Oh!" Ashley said as she realized something, "We're going back?" She asked Sam, looking hopeful.

"We, does not include you Ashley." Dean said. "You're still in danger, we can't have you going back to your house. You have angels as well as demons after you. You'll be safer here. And don't worry you won't be alone, Ellen, Bobby and Cas are staying here too." Dean told her.

"Umm, actually Dean…" Jo started to say, "Mom and Bobby are heading out in a few hours. They're going to meet Rufus and some other hunters." She muttered softly.

"Well okay… you'll still have Cas; he isn't going anywhere. So cheer up Ashley," Dean tried to soothe her, knowing that she seemed upset.

"Alright, I guess there's no point arguing, but can I at least go back to my place now and get my things? I have a few books that could help us out." Ashley needed to get away from the safe house for a few hours at least.

"Not alone. I'll come with you." Dean suspected something was fishy here, but didn't broach the subject. "And not now. We all need some rest. Its almost 3 am now, try and sleep for a few hours, okay?" He asked Ashley, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Sure." She replied, not meeting his eyes.

Ashley may have been around him for only a few hours but she knew from Jo that Dean was very good at seeing through people. She hoped that her enthusiasm to get out was nothing more than her needing to go back home.

Castiel had surprisingly fallen asleep by then. Losing his powers, even if temporarily seemed to have rendered him completely human and since sleep was a human tendency, he had drifted off somewhere during Dean and Ashley's banter. Sam and Jo got up from their seats by the window and headed out. After a moment's discussion, it was decided that Sam and Dean would sleep in the room next door, Ashley and Jo would sleep in the room ahead of that while Ellen and Bobby took the two rooms downstairs; they weren't as injured as the others and had ordered everyone else to rest while they stood guard.

Soon everyone on the first floor of the house had fallen asleep. They were sure that they wouldn't be attacked again for a while now, which was why Sam and Dean both fell into a deep, worry-free sleep as soon as they entered their room. Jo and Ashley too had slept almost immediately. The night passed without any incident, and eventually, Ellen and Bobby went to their respective rooms to get some rest themselves.

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Reviews would be nice! I didn't end it on a cliffhanger this time! ^_^


	12. Chapter 12

I'd like to thank my reviewers once again for their lovely comments, **WhitneySheree, Bekyg620, and Splishboom. **The next one or two chapters might be a little less on the action but they are informative ones so I guess they're ok-filter chapters... hopefully not too boring!

**Disclaimer: **Think I missed out on one or two of these... not on purpose! Suffering from SPN withdrawal at the moment... Need more Cas! And more of the Winchesters too! Even though I don't own them... *sigh*

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It was a little after 7 when Ashley's eyes opened. She had slept peacefully, which was surprising considering everything she had been through in the past couple of hours. Slowly getting up from the bed, without waking Jo, Ashley slipped out the door and went to check on the others. After checking on Sam and Dean, she went downstairs to check on Bobby and Ellen first. Once she was done, she headed to Castiel's room and hesitated for a second on the landing, outside the door before gently turning the knob and stepping inside.

There he was, sleeping as if he had never slept before, which he technically hadn't since being an angel meant that he did not sleep at all. Now, seeing him there, Ashley thought that Castiel was just like one of them, not in the sense that he was no longer an angel now, but because being with Dean and the others had humanized him in a way that even after he got his powers back, he would not completely revert to being the old Castiel.

Ashley still did not know much about him. She and Jo had spoken a little about him last night before going to sleep, but from what she heard, she knew that Castiel was a good friend to them all, trustworthy and protective, more towards Dean. Ashley was about to turn around and head out before she woke him up, but hearing his voice startled her.

"A…" Was all she heard. Curious, she crossed the room and stood by his bed, not daring to sit down after what had happened to her last night. She could see his face clearly now, it was still healing but he looked better than what he had when she had held his bleeding body in her arms.

"Au…ro...ra…" Castiel whispered, repeating the name over and over again. "Aurora…" Ashley finally managed to understand what he was saying. Aurora. A girl's name. She was out of the room before another thought crossed her mind.

"Don't be ridiculous Ashley. You're behaving childish." She mentally scolded herself as she felt something tugging at her heart. "He's an angel. It doesn't matter what happens… he's always going to have to go back to Heaven." She shook her head clear of all these thoughts and feelings and was heading towards the bathroom to get ready when the middle door opened.

"Ashley?" Dean's voice called out. He didn't look as if he had just woken up, but then again, he didn't look like he had slept properly either.

"Hey…" She replied softly. "I was just going to shower and wake you up." She told him.

"So you still wanna go back home?" He asked her, standing against the door, leaning with his arms folded across his chest like last night.

"Yes. There's some things that I need. And if you're keeping me under house arrest too then I'll need my clothes and everything." She told him, sounding a little bit annoyed.

Dean sighed as he rubbed his eyes, there were dark circles under them, suggesting that he hadn't slept in a while.

"Look, I know you're mad that you're not getting to help us since it was you who told us about this McKinney case… but Ashley, I'm trying to protect you, you aren't a hunter and you'd always be exposed to the enemy. Cas said you're the key to something and since Heaven and Hell are fighting to get to you, I think…" Dean was cut off by Ashley.

"You think I'll be safer in the safe house." She finished for him. "I know you're right Dean, but I don't want to have to be protected 24/7 by either you or Castiel or Sam… you guys barely know me and you'll have decided to keep me safe. I appreciate that a lot, but I'm not someone who'll just sit back and let everyone else protect me. I want to be able to protect myself." Ashley said to Dean, meeting his eyes for the first time.

"You want to learn how to be a hunter?" He asked her, unfolding his arms, looking shocked. "Why?" The idea seemed incredulous to him.

"Not a hunter exactly, I just want to learn how to use a gun or maybe a knife, you know, in case a demon comes after me… you and I both know very well that I won't _always_ have someone with me. Like last night, what if Castiel hadn't been the one to find me first? What if it was a demon? Jo gave me a knife, but I don't know how to kill a demon with one." She told him honestly.

"A knife?" Dean said. "Is it Ruby's knife by any chance?" He asked her.

"I think so, it's the same one she had on her last night. I've left it in the room." She told Dean.

"Leave it there for now. We have to head out soon, take the knife with you before we go." Dean told Ashley as he finally closed the door behind him.

"Are you going to teach me how to use the knife?" She asked him, praying that he would say yes.

"I wish I could Ashley, but you're gonna have to settle with learning from the first best hunter ahead of me. He's really good at using all sorts of weapons, except for guns, I could teach you to use a gun if you wanted, but since you don't, you should stick with our best. Plus he'll help you keep the demons and angels from tracking you down." He smiled at her as he started to walk downstairs to make some breakfast for them.

"Who are you talking about Dean?" Ashley asked, knowing the answer was what she was expecting.

"Cas of course. He may be human but his angel fighting skills are still kicking strong." Dean gave her a wink and disappeared.

Ashley sighed deeply as she leaned against the wall for a second before heading to the bathroom. Not only was she going to be stuck in the safe house for god knows how long with the angel-turned-human Castiel but she was going to learn how to fight from him as well.

"Great, this is just great." She grumbled to herself as she shut the door to the bathroom.

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**A/N: **I realize this was tiny and not much happened, except for giving a little insight as to what lies ahead... hope I get reviews! ^_^

**P.S - **Next chapter's gonna come up in about 12-14 hours... promise it'll be longer!


	13. Chapter 13

I'd like to thank my reviewers **Bekyg620, Magdailovecastiel and WhitneySheree **for continuing to comment on my chapters even though they may not be of proper lengths! I hope that this chapter is big enough! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

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Half an hour later saw Dean and Ashley leaving the house; they were obviously taking the Impala with them. Ashley had scribbled a note to Ellen telling her that she and Dean would return by mid-afternoon. The drive back to South Dakota was without much conversation, but Dean did play his favorite CD's all the time which got him and Ashley into a relaxed mood. It was half past 10 when they found themselves driving through the streets of Sioux Falls and five minutes later, Ashley pointed out her apartment building to Dean who parked about a block away.

"It's safer if we walk to your place from here. Its too early in the morning for anything to attack us, but just in case..." Dean tried to reassure her as he quickly removed the usual weapons from his trunk and packed them into a duffel bag which he swung over his shoulder.

"What if someone follows us?" Ashley was starting to get nervous, she had a tingling feeling in her spine, something in her was trying to tell her that maybe coming back wasn't the best idea.

"Don't worry. I have a shot gun with rock salt bullets for the demons, iron for the ghosts, and I borrowed Cas' angel sword in case his winged pals are after us too." Dean smirked as he and Ashley strolled down the streets past the other people who were busy going to work, talking on the phone, listening to music, oblivious to the horrors of the supernatural world around them.

"You mean you _stole_ Castiel's angel sword." Ashley corrected him as she headed inside one of the buildings. "There's a difference." She added as she tried to stifle a giggle.

"_No. _I said I borrowed it," Dean retaliated in a calm manner, "And I know the difference. I'm obviously going to give it back to Cas once we get back to the house." He said to her as he smiled, he was starting to like Ashley a lot more, and could see that he would soon do anything to protect her as well, she was starting to be like a sister to him.

"Alright alright." Ashley said, shaking her head. They had reached the elevators now. The building was partially empty since most of the tenants were students, they all had left for their classes already.

"What floor are you on?" Dean asked as they stepped inside the elevator. Alone. He was glad that there was no one with them or he'd be throwing holy water in everyone's faces.

"I'm on the 9th floor." She told him as she pressed the number 9.

"Too high, if there's any problem, it'll be hard for you to get out quickly, you should have found a place on the first two floors." Dean explained that it was easier living closer to the ground floor.

"Yea I know. I tried but at the last minute the room I was supposed to take on the 2nd floor got booked by some rich kid so I got stuck with the house on the 9th. But its not that bad. I have a great roommate." Ashley said, smiling at Dean as the elevator's opened onto the 9th floor.

"A roommate? You have someone staying with you and you didn't mention this to us until now?" Dean was taken aback, he knew he should have asked Ashley about this sooner.

"I didn't think it was important. I have only one person staying with me and she isn't a demon, I checked. Holy Water in her water bottle on the first day." Ashley removed a set of keys from her bag.

"Yea well if she's not a demon then she's a target to them now. You're going to have to get her out of here now. I don't know how but figure something out fast. She's in danger too." Dean grumbled.

"I'll think of something. Here we are." Ashley stopped outside a door that read 903, she unlocked the door and quietly stepped inside. "She might be sleeping." Ashley whispered to Dean. "I'll take my stuff and we can come back to get her out before leaving."

Dean was about to protest and say something to Ashley when someone ran into the hall and hugged Ashley tightly. It was a girl, her roommate Dean figured judging by the looks of it. She was brown haired, about the same height as her, probably the same age as well.

"Oh my god!" The girl screamed as she hugged Ashley. "You're alright! I was so worried about you Ashy! I was going to call the police. Where were you? Why didn't you come home last night? Are you okay?" The girl had a soft voice that turned slightly shrill with every second word.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." Ashley gasped, "You can let go. now. can't. breathe." Her roommate was still hugging her.

"Oh right. Sorry!" She told Ashley as she let go of her friend and stepped back. It was then did she notice Dean standing behind, watching the whole thing with a grin.

"Oooo, so that's why you stayed out all night Ashy! Way to go girl!" Ashley's roommate winked at her.

"What?" Ashley was stunned for a second as she processed what her friend had just said. "No! He isn't my boyfriend silly, he's already seeing someone else." She corrected the statement.

This caused Dean and her roommate to look at her with big surprised eyes. "He helped me out last night, there were these… guys after me, crazy drunkards on bikes... He saved me from them and I ended up staying over at his girlfriend's house." Ashley quickly made her story up, not realizing she had rambled off too quickly, but her roommate didn't catch on to it.

"_My girlfriend?_" Dean mouthed to her, looking dumbstruck.

"Oh no! Are you okay Ashy? You're not hurt or anything are you?" Her roommate asked her.

"No I'm okay... I mean apart from..." Ashley started to say something else but Dean's fake cough stopped her from going on. "Oh! I almost forgot, Dean, this is my roommate Hannah Hogan."

Ashley glanced back at Dean with a cunning smile; she was trying her best not to laugh. Judging from Dean's expression, she knew that his so called cough wasn't because it was time for introductions but because they had to move fast.

"Nice to meet you…" Hannah said as she held her hand out to him, beaming brightly.

"_She is a pretty looking girl_," Dean had to give her that, "_But compared to Jo…_ whoa! _I did not just do that…"_ Dean mentally whacked himself in the head before forcing a smile to stretch across his face as he took Hannah's hand and shook it. "Dean Winchester." He introduced himself.

"Dean! That's a very nice name!" Hannah continued to grin happily, "Would you like something to eat?" She offered him.

"Oh umm… we already ate," Dean started to say but he noticed Ashley giving him a weird look and caught her drift, "But I always have room for more." He finished, trying not to let his smile stretch till it would forever remain stuck on his face.

"Goody! I made pie!" Hannah said as she finally let go of Dean's hand and hurried into the kitchen. "Make yourself at home…" She called out amidst the noise of plates clattering and dishes clanging.

"_Pie?_ Did she just say _Pie_?" Dean asked Ashley, his eyes glazed with joy and a genuine smile replacing the forced one.

"Yea… Hannah likes to bake, a lot. She tries out all sorts of dishes, I think its lemon pie today, or blueberry? I can't remember." Ashley said, as she sat down on her sofa and saw that Dean wasn't sitting with her. "Dean?"

"Hmm?" Dean was still standing by the coffee table, his eyes glued to the kitchen door.

"Dean!" Ashley put a couple more decibels in her voice, which got his attention, he snapped out of his pie-trance and looked at her.

"Sorry, but I haven't had pie in such a long time. I miss it." He explained, pretending to look distraught.

"Yes well you can have as much of Hannah's pie as you like, but we have to leave quickly, I'm going to pack my things, if she asks, tell her I'll explain everything." Ashley stood up and headed for her bedroom which was across the hall. She turned back and saw that Dean had finally sat down and was back to normal, for now.

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Here's hoping for some reviews! No cliffhangers either! ^_^

**A/N: **This chapter is dedicated to my good friend Hannah Hogan whom I mentioned at the start of my story; and introducing her into the story as a character is going to serve a purpose in the future!


	14. Chapter 14

I would like to thank my reviewers **WhitneySheree, Magdailovecastiel and Bekyg620** for their comments and for being quite regular in reviewing! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I only own Ashley, Aurora, Hannah and the story line that kept Ellen and Jo alive... nothing relating to the men of SPN belong to me... *sigh*

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A few minutes passed, after which the kitchen door opened and Hannah entered the hall, carrying two plates in each hand, both having a big slice of homemade pie. Dean stood up and immediately took them from her hands and kept them down on the table in front of him.

"Thanks!" Hannah told him as she sat down, "Its lemon pie, my favorite kind. I hope you like it." She said as she too sat down.

"Oh I'm sure I will." Dean smiled as he grabbed a plate and fork.

"Where did Ashley go?" Hannah asked him as he started to eat, noticing her roommate had already vanished.

"Ashley's gone to her room, said she had to pack her things. Don't know why. I'm sure she'll tell you when she comes out." He replied with a casual shrug. "By the way, this pie is really delicious." Dean added as he emptied his plate.

Hannah's brown eyes lit up when she heard the compliment. It was the first time she had made someone else taste her cooking apart from Ashley and hearing good things about her food made her very happy.

"Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Can I get you one more piece?" Hannah suddenly seemed to have calmed down and was sounding more grounded.

"If its not too much of a problem…" Dean said, "You're a very good cook Hannah." He told her as she stood up, taking his plate with her.

"So tell me Dean," Hannah's voice drifted through the kitchen door, "Do you work?" It was the first question that a girl always asked.

"I do. Yes. With my brother, we have our family business." Dean replied, as he suddenly got an idea. This could be the chance he was looking for to get some answers.

"Oh that's wonderful! You have an older brother?" Hannah asked him; Dean could hear sounds of clattering coming from inside the kitchen as he sat patiently, glancing towards the rooms to see if Ashley could hear them or not.

"Younger actually." Dean answered, "What about you Hannah? Do you have any siblings?" He asked her once he was satisfied that the doors were sound proof.

"I have an older sister and a younger brother." She replied, coming out of the kitchen with a new slice of lemon pie.

"That's nice," Dean said as he took the plate from her. "And what about Ashley?" He asked casually.

"Ashley? Didn't you ask her already? I mean you've been with her for over 12 hours now, I thought that you'll must have exchanged stories by now." Hannah was a little surprised, but before Dean could say anything she went on."I guess she's still the same. She never talks much about herself. I've known her for a month and all I know about her family is that she doesn't have one anymore." She said softly.

Dean suddenly stopped eating. His ears were open now; this was not completely unexpected to hear, but he knew that in order for his growing suspicion to be proved right, he needed to know more.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that, the thing is that Ashley and I never got to talking last night, I happened to meet her outside the library, she was alone and it was late at night. Once those drunk chuckleheads on bikes came, I managed to take her away from there and we went back to my… girlfriend's house. I stayed the night with the girls, but Ashley fell asleep real quick." Dean rambled on, adding to Ashley's made up story of last night's events.

"I see. Well she never mentions her family to anyone. She wouldn't say what happened, but when I found a picture of a baby girl once with her parents I guess, very cute and adorable, I thought that it was her sister because the eye color's didn't match you know, because well you know what I mean right?" Hannah paused for a second, Dean nodded silently and then she continued, "But the girl in the photo had plain blue eyes, but Ashley told me that it was a photo of when she was a baby." Hannah confessed.

"Hmm…" Was all Dean managed to say. There was a noise of a door closing shut and Dean and Hannah looked up to see Ashley coming out of her room with two bags in her hand. As if on cue, Dean's phone rang that very second.

"Excuse me, I have to take this." He stood up and went inside the kitchen, leaving Ashley and Hannah in the hall.

"Hey… what did I miss?" Ashley asked her roommate as she sat down, picking up her plate of pie.

"Oh nothing much! Dean was just telling me how good my cooking skills are." Hannah replied, sounding like she had before. "Isn't he like really cute Ashy? Too bad he's taken, you could have had a chance if he was single." Hannah winked, causing Ashley to choke on her pie.

"Hannah! Seriously? You've been trying to hook me up with every possible guy you find! Don't you want to find someone for yourself?" Ashley coughed between words.

"I do! Maybe I should find someone like Dean, he seems really brave and chivalrous and all, his girlfriend's very lucky to have him!" Hannah beamed again.

"Yea she is." Ashley had found her breath again and continued to eat. "So umm… Hannah, I need to talk to you about something." She started to say.

"Are you going to tell me why you're suddenly leaving?" Hannah was upset now; she cared a lot about her roommate and was sad that she was leaving so soon.

"I'm sorry!" Ashley said, as she left her plate and took Hannah's hands in hers. "I know you're upset Hannah, but the call came in this morning. I've been called back to Duke, my flight's leaving tonight." Ashley felt horrible about lying to her friend, but anything was better than the truth.

"You're going home?" Hannah's face fell even more. "And here I thought you were moving out because you needed a new roommate." She joked.

"Oh Hannah!" Ashley was nearly close to tears now. "Don't be silly. I'd never want to change my roommate. You're the best roomie I've ever had. I'm sorry, I tried talking to my professor, but something has come up at the dig and they need me back. I think its because they also want me to handle the new interns as well." Ashley hoped that her plan would work.

"New interns? Are they signing on more people now?" Hannah asked her, looking happy.

"That's what I heard. Why do you want to know?" Ashley tried not to smile too much, her plan was working so far.

"Oh no reason, I was just wondering… do you think there's place for one more intern?" Hannah looked hopefully at Ashley.

"Hmm… I think there might be." Ashley replied, hoping she sounded innocent and not like she was the one who had planned this.

"Great! I'm coming then! I've been trying to look for a job here since ages but there's too much boring stuff here. Please let me come with you Ashy!" Hannah wanted to get out of the town more than Ashley knew.

"Alright! But first things first, I need to talk to my advisor and you need to book your ticket and pack your things as well. It'll take a good two or three days." Ashley went on with her story.

"Its okay! I'll be there!" Hannah hugged Ashley.

Just then, the kitchen door banged open, startling the girls out of their seats. Dean came outside looking very worried about something. Ashley had seen that expression on his face too many times since last night and knew that there was something wrong.

"Dean…" She said softly as she walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping that Hannah wasn't too freaked out, "Who was that on the phone?" she asked.

"It was Sammy…" Dean's voice was barely a whisper. He looked as if he were in pain.

"What did he say?" Ashley was getting nervous now, something in his eyes told her that this was something different. "What happened Dean?" She pressed him on softly, noticing that Hannah was looking at Dean with worry too.

"We have to go. We have to go back to the house now." He repeated.

"I know that Dean, we're leaving now. But first tell me what did Sam say? Something's happened hasn't it?" She asked him.

Dean turned around to face Ashley and met her eyes. He looked shattered beyond repair; something had definitely gone very wrong.

"She's gone Ashley…. They took her." With those six words, he collapsed on her shoulder, burying his head in her neck.

Ashley was frozen to the spot. She thought she misheard him when he spoke. It couldn't be true. How could it have happened? The safe house was protected from demons and ghosts and spirits… but not…

"It was an Angel." Dean whispered in her ear as if reading her thoughts.

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Dun-dun-dun! Sorry about the cliffhanger! Don't forget to leave your amazing reviews! ^_^


	15. Chapter 15

To: **WhitneySheree and Bekyg620**, Thank you for the reviews and for giving me an idea of what to do regarding something that could be important for the future of this story! Or for part of it at least! ^_^

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, not even the idea I just got because it was technically suggested by a reviewer! Hehehe...

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The words had barely registered in her mind. There were dozens of questions running through her brain… _"Jo was kidnapped by an angel? But why? And how? Where was Sam?" _Ashley didn't voice out her thoughts, but Hannah did.

"Is everything okay?" Hannah hadn't heard Dean's last few words, but was looking a little nervous now.

Dean managed to compose himself so quickly that Ashley was taken by surprise; one minute he was hugging her and the next second he had turned very formal and appeared calm.

"Its fine, I just… we have to head back home… my girlfriend left the house in a bit of a temper… we hadn't left a note and she woke up to find that Ashley and I had gone…" Dean's lying had improved a lot in the past several minutes.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be alright once you explain to her that you and Ashley just came here to get her luggage…" Hannah offered, hoping that she could try and make Dean feel better.

"Yea, she should be. I'm sorry Hannah, it was nice meeting you though." Dean actually smiled as he shook Hannah's hand and then turned to Ashley, "I'll take your bags down. Give you girls a minute." He said and abruptly left.

When Dean was gone, Hannah let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding and walked over to Ashley who had been standing quietly all this while. Hannah took her best friend's hand in hers and squeezed it.

"Hey… don't worry, its not your fault that she left… girlfriends get jealous all the time… she'll be fine…" Hannah reassured her.

"Yea…" Ashley managed to croak out. "I guess this is goodbye then." She said, not remembering her story about Hannah moving to Duke to be with her.

"Goodbye for now you mean!" Hannah corrected as she hugged Ashley, "We're seeing each other again in a few days silly!" She was completely oblivious to the truth but Ashley knew that Hannah was safer that way.

"Hmm…" Ashley was still distracted. In her heart, she knew that Jo had been taken because of her. She didn't know why everyone thought she was so important, but seeing Dean a few minutes ago, she knew how much Jo meant to him and she knew what to do to get her back.

"Ashy? Relax okay… its nothing… everything will be alright… cheer up!" Hannah told her as she gave her one last hug. "I'll see you soon!"

"Bye…" Ashley whispered as she opened the door and walked out towards the elevator and then across the street to the Impala.

She had to remain calm herself if her idea was to work. This was going to be more than convincing Hannah to move out of town. Her life was on the line and for the first time since last night, she didn't care that much, heck she wasn't that scared anymore. She knew that if what she was planning to do got Jo back to Dean safely, then it wouldn't matter what happened to her. She reached the car and slid into the passenger seat next to Dean who started the car and began to drive.

"Dean…" Ashley finally spoke up. They had been driving for half an hour in silence and she couldn't take it anymore. She knew what Dean must be going through and knew that he wouldn't open up to her of his own accord, so she was going to take it out of him.

"Dean… what did Sam say? Did he… does he know who it was?" Ashley asked Dean, hoping that she wouldn't be met with silence.

"His name's Zachariah. He's been after Sam and me for a long time now… that bloody son of a bitch! If he touches as much as a hair of Jo's… I swear I'll kill him myself…" Dean growled angrily.

"We'll get her back Dean…" Ashley said to him, placing her hand on his.

"We can't do it the way they want it… bloody angels think that they're gonna have their way, I won't let that happen…" Dean started grumbling under his breath as he stepped on the accelerator.

"What way?" Ashley knew what was coming. She had it figured out the second she heard that Jo had been taken. There was only one reason the angels would have done so.

"Sammy said that Zach wants an exchange. He'll give Jo back if gets you in her place." Dean said as he finally spared a glance in her direction.

Ashley smiled at him, catching Dean by surprise. He had expected her to be scared or worried or panic by now, and here she was _smiling_ at him?

"So its simple then. We tell Zachariah to meet us somewhere and get Jo back." Ashley knew it was better if she told him that she was agreeing to the plan now than when they reached the safe house.

Dean braked the car so abruptly and so suddenly that the tires squealed against the asphalt road as it came to a stop. Dean turned to look at Ashley, his face looking like everything but happy.

"What did you just say?" He asked her. His hands were still on the wheel.

"I said that we'll arrange the place for the exchange." Ashley repeated her answer softly, bracing herself for Dean's next words.

"Are you out of your mind?" Dean's voice was stern, but neither loud nor too angry. "Did you not hear what I just said? We're not doing it their way… there is no way I'm exchanging you for Jo." Now he sounded pissed.

"You don't have the right to stop me." Ashley retorted.

"Yes I do. You're under my protection and I'm not going to let you just _waltz_ into the enemies hands." Dean was firm on that point.

"Why not? If it means that you'll get Jo back then why shouldn't I give myself up to the Angels?" Ashley was getting angry too, she didn't know why Dean was so worried for her safety, they barely knew each other.

"Do you want to know why the Angels are after you? And the Demons?" Dean asked her suddenly leaving the wheel and coming closer to her. "Do you know what's going on in the world right now?" He wasn't too close, but Ashley felt the air between them in the car change all of a sudden; she was also aware of the fact that Dean's eyes were staring straight into hers, and knew what he was seeing.

"There's only one reason that Heaven and Hell are fighting for you." He pulled back, but didn't remove his gaze on her, "Its because Cas said you're the key. And if that's true then there's one thing that you're the key _to… _Ending the Apocalypse." Dean said to her, explaining how important she really was.

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Cliffhanger! Or is it? Its not really THAT big compared to the previous chapter's! Sorry about the length again! Reviews would be nice! ^_^


	16. Chapter 16

I'd like to thank my reviewers **WhitneySheree and Bekyg620** for their comments! Sorry for the delay in the update, was extremely busy and got caught up in a lot of things. But its here now!

**Disclaimer:** As you shall see at the end, only the characters that are not part of the SPN world belong entirely to me!

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"The Apocalypse?" Ashley repeated Dean's words, looking stunned. "What do you mean by the Apocalypse?" She asked him. This was not what she was expecting to hear from him. It meant that a whole new level of crazy existed now.

Dean didn't say anything at first, he turned back to the wheel and started up the car again, increasing the speed as he drove. About a minute later, he replied to Ashley.

"The Apocalypse, the end of the world. Its started. Lucifer's free and he's hell bent, sorry about that, he's raising his Four Horsemen to help him end the world. We all had believed that there was only one way to kill Lucifer and stop the end of the world, but now it looks like a second way's come up." Ashley wasn't sure if Dean's last sentence was spoken to her or was he talking to himself.

"Lucifer's real? And he's started the Apocalypse?" Ashley summed up Dean's explanation in two questions to which she only got a nod from him. "And how are you planning on stopping him?" She asked, sounding oddly calm.

"Well the original plan was use the Archangel Michael's Sword to kill Lucifer, until we found out that his sword isn't actually a sword but Michael's vessel which happens to be _me_." Dean clearly wasn't happy about that.

"Oh..." Ashley was taken by surprise, she hadn't expected to hear that. She was still trying to wrap her head around the idea that the Devil was not only real but walking the Earth as they spoke, and that Dean was a vessel for the Archangel Michael who possessed the ability to defeat Lucifer and send him back to Hell.

"And Lucifer's true vessel is none other than Sammy… its a long story shortened." Dean explained to her, not going into the details, "But since neither of us want to be Angel meat suits we assumed that there was no other way out of this mess until Cas went to Heaven and met Raphael who said that you are the key. Which means that you are the alternative option to me and Sammy killing each other to stop the Apocalypse and saving the world." Dean finished, telling Ashley everything truthfully. There was no point in giving her half the story.

"I see. So does that mean that I'm Michael's vessel too?" Ashley seemed unusually composed after hearing all this, but Dean knew that she was trying her level best not to just jump out of the car then and there telling him to accept his destiny and kill Lucifer by letting Michael possess him.

"No. Michael has another vessel, my half-brother Adam, but he's dead. You can't be Michael's vessel, although you seem to be the key to stopping Lucifer, but I don't know how you fit into all of this." Dean said to Ashley as he pulled up into the driveway. They had reached home.

"Great. So since I'm the key to ending the Apocalypse, the Angels and Demons want me for themselves and you guys aren't gonna hand me over to either party because I'm obviously going to be sacrificed." Ashley caught on to Dean's plan as she got out of the car.

"Exactly." Dean said, slamming his door shut too and started walking towards the house.

"Why don't you'll want me sacrificed?" Ashley suddenly asked him. "I mean, you have the alternative right in front of you, literally. Why won't you hand me over and be free of having to think of being possessed by Michael and then killing your brother?"

Dean stopped on the porch and gave Ashley a look of amazement before opening the door and walking in to find Ellen pacing up and down. Bobby was on the phone yelling at Rufus, Sam was busy researching something on his laptop and Castiel was lying down on the sofa looking helpless.

"We care about you Ashley, as much as we care about Jo. And not only because you're someone who needs to be protected from the Devil and about a dozen or so always-angry Angels, but because you're part of this family now. And we don't sacrifice family to the enemies. We're gonna find another way to get Jo back." Dean answered Ashley softly before reverting back to his old self, the Dean who was pissed that the girl he loved had been kidnapped.

"Dean!" Ellen was the first one to see him. "They took my daughter away and Sam won't let me go after that son of a bitch who has her!" Ellen was as angry as Dean was and bring a hunter herself, there was only one way to deal with Zachariah.

"I'm gonna get Jo back Ellen…" Dean told her as he placed his hands on her shoulders, and tried to calm her down, "I know you're worried about her, and you have every right to be. But please, trust me. I'm not going to let anything happen to Jo. You know that." He needed Ellen to be strong.

"I trust you Dean. You'd better bring Joanna back." She looked up at Dean, her eyes watering and Ashley had to turn her head away feeling her eyes starting to moisten as well.

She ended up turning in the direction of the sofa where Castiel was. She saw him look at her once before closing his eyes again. Ashley walked over to Ellen who had sat down while Dean was asking Sam about what had happened and how Zachariah had been able to take Jo from the house with 3 other hunters and an angel inside.

"We all were awake by then…" Ashley heard Sam talking to Dean, "Three hours ago… He just came in with three more angels with him… Jo was right here in the hall with Cas… we were all upstairs but Ellen heard Cas arguing with Zach… by the time we reached down, Raphael appeared out of nowhere and threatened to kill Jo if Cas didn't hand her over willingly." Sam was then stopped by Dean who finished the remainder of the story.

"Let me guess, Raphael said he wouldn't harm Jo if she went with them without a fight? And that they'd give her back once we give them Ashley." He punched the desk with his fist when Sam nodded. "Damn it! There's gotta be another way to get her back." He had hoped Sam had found something, but so far they had come up with nothing.

"Cas said that there might be a way…" Sam told Dean, who immediately turned and addressed Castiel.

"Cas?" Dean walked over to the angel. Castiel was awake now, and he was standing up without difficulty as well. "Is there another way?" he asked his guardian, hoping for anything.

Dean would hand himself over to Zachariah and Raphael instead of Ashley if it meant getting Jo back. There was nothing he would stop at to make sure that Jo was back safe with them. She was as important to him as Sam was and that meant he'd die for her.

"There is one way Dean," Castiel said, speaking softly but with renewed energy, he was recovering quickly. "Sara can help us. I am sure of it."

"Sara?" Dean raised a questioning eyebrow at Castiel, he hadn't heard his angel guardian talk about anyone called Sara before, let alone hearing a woman's name from him, it was shocking.

"I meant Sophia, her human vessel is known by the name of Sara." Castiel replied calmly, not realizing that Dean thought hearing him talk of a woman sounded like an unbelievable idea.

"The Archangel Sophia?" Sam asked Castiel, looking surprisedly at him as he realized what Castiel was talking about.

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Cliffhanger again! Okay... so this probably sucks big time for you guys, and I'll try to see if I can stop this habit, but don't stop the reviews! ^_^


	17. Chapter 17

Once again, I'm glad to even get one review everyday, proves that the story is going good. Thanks to **WhitneySheree and Bekyg620 **for your positive comments!

**Disclaimer: **I give up. I don't even know if I should continue going on with this... I want the Winchesters, Castiel, J-Squared and Misha! ^_^

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"_The Archangel Sophia?" Sam asked Castiel, looking surprisedly at him as he realized what Castiel was talking about._

"Yes, the archangel Sophia" Castiel replied.

"Hold on a second…" Dean said as he stood up looking perplexed. "Who in heaven's name is Sophia? And how is she an archangel? I thought there were only four of them or something and I sure don't think there's anyone called Sophia."

"The four archangels are the warriors of the Lord, that does not mean that there aren't more archangels. Sophia is the Archangel of Wisdom and Love." Castiel explained.

Dean's eyes widened when he heard Castiel's words. "The archangel of love? Like Cupid?" It sounded quite incredulous coming from his mouth.

"No Dean. Cupid is a cherub, a third-level angel. Sophia is the first angel of love. The others work under her." Castiel said with a sigh, he wasn't surprised to hear Dean comparing an archangel to cupid.

"Oh so you mean like she's the boss? I get it…" Dean said sounding calm, and then suddenly he threw his hands in the air, "And how is the angel of _Love_ going to help us get Jo back?" He clearly was expecting something different.

"Because she is also the Archangel of Wisdom. We are going to see her Dean and she will have the answers that you are looking for, Sophia has all the answers." Castiel replied.

"And what are we gonna do in the mean time?" Ellen asked the two men. "I am not gonna just sit here and wait around for you two to go meet some angel while my daughter's being tortured somewhere!" She let go of Ashley's hand and stood up. "There is no way in hell or heaven that you're gonna make me stay here Dean!" Ellen was adamant and Dean knew that.

Dean walked over to where Ellen stood and placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her teary eyes.

"Jo is as important to me as she is to you Ellen. I know you want her back and would do anything, so would I. But having said that, I care about you as well and that's why you're gonna have to sit out of this." Dean said to her softly.

Ellen was surprised to see this sudden change in Dean. She had heard Sam talk about it before but to actually hear him say all those things made her believe that Dean was changing for the better. He was becoming more caring and kind and Ellen was happy to know that it was her daughter who was the reason for it.

"Alright, but there must be something we can do to help?" Ellen asked him. She would go mad with worry if she was going to have to sit in the house for the next few hours.

"Of course there is." Dean replied, sounding a little uncertain about something. He rarely was one to seem fidgety regarding anything, but there was an air of cautiousness around him; he was being careful and vague with his words.

Ellen must have sensed that whatever Dean wanted to tell her had to be done in private, she had to figure out how to get everyone else out of the room. Everyone was silent for a moment, they had been watching Dean and Ellen's interaction quietly, without saying a word until…

"Ouch!" Ashley suddenly screamed out.

Sam, Dean, Ellen, Bobby and Castiel immediately ran to Ashley who was holding her forehead and wincing.

"Ashley, are you okay?" Dean asked her, coming closer to her. He knelt beside the sofa and held her free hand.

"Yea… I think so… I… sorry… its weird… I know… I keep having these… bursts of headaches suddenly…" Ashley replied slowly. She was rubbing her head with her knuckles, trying to lessen the throbbing pain that had unexpectedly crept up.

Dean and Sam exchanged a worried look, weird headaches. They had had personal experience in that area. Ashley was silent now, her eyes were closed, but her hand still massaged her head.

"Sammy, why don't you take Ashley upstairs?" Dean suddenly told his brother. He had found a way to talk to Ellen now.

"Alright. Bobby, give me a hand." Sam said to the older man as he helped Ashley to stand up. She was a little weak but managed to walk slowly with Sam and Bobby supporting her.

As soon as Dean heard the door on the floor above shut, he turned to Ellen. He knew Castiel was still there, watching and listening to everything, but that wasn't a problem. He could trust him not to say anything to the others.

"Ellen." Dean called out to her. She turned to face him, looking worried. She knew that something was wrong with Ashley, but she didn't know what.

"Look, I don't have much time. Cas and I are leaving immediately, we'll be back in a few hours. I need you to do something for me till then." He spoke in a whisper, even though it was just the three of them.

"What?" Ellen looked confused now.

"I need you and Bobby to find out more information about Ashley. We don't know much about her, and I think its best if we have something else to take a look at." Dean told her.

Castiel's expression changed when he heard Dean's words but did not say anything. He knew what Dean was doing and if he wanted answers about Ashley himself then this was the best way to get them.

"Why?" Ellen asked Dean, "What use will more information be to you? Didn't Ashley tell us that she's a student from Duke and that she's not a hunter? What else do you need?"

"Information on her family." Dean said flat out. "There's something about her family that she doesn't want anyone to know. And I think that if we know more then we'll be able to figure out why she's being targeted by Heaven and Hell. Tell Sammy that you and Bobby are heading back to his house to get more weapons. Make a couple of phone calls; please Ellen, we need that information." Dean didn't want to have to tell her about his suspicions. He had a strange calm feeling towards Ashley, someone he had known for barely a day and that wasn't right.

"Alright Dean. I'll talk to Bobby. You two better find a way to bring my daughter back from this angel or else I'm going after Zachariah myself." Ellen said, sounding more like her old self now.

With that, she left the two men and headed upstairs. Dean turned to Castiel who had been standing against the wall listening to everything that had passed between Ellen and Dean.

"Its time Dean. We should go now." Castiel said.

"Yea I know… it's a pity we can't just teleport to wherever your archangel buddy is and back again. Let's go." He said holstering his gun and picking up his duffel bag.

The two of them set off in the Impala. Castiel had mentioned that Sophia was somewhere in Illinois, but after driving north for more than half an hour, Dean was beginning to think that maybe they weren't going to stay inside the state boundaries much longer. Dean hadn't even put his CD's in this time; he didn't feel the need to be clam right now. The only thing on his mind was that he had to get Jo back, for Ellen and for himself as well.

"Are you sure we're heading in the right direction?" Dean asked his silent angel guardian for the fifth time in two minutes.

"Yes. We should be there now." Castiel replied, looking out of the window. The area they were passing by now was a little further away from the main city. After a few minutes of driving by a row of buildings Castiel spoke again.

"There. Stop in front of that building." He pointed to a huge cluster of buildings on the opposite side of the road.

"Cas… that's a university campus." Dean said, sounding and looking amazed.

"Yes. Illinois State University." Castiel replied calmly.

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There we go! Not that big of a cliffhanger again this time! Hope to get some reviews! ^_^


	18. Chapter 18

Thanks **Bekyg620 and WhitneySheree!**

**Disclaimer: **Ashley, Aurora, Hannah and Sophia belong to me! Ha! I have a lot of characters that I own now!

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"And why are we at Illinois State University?" Dean asked Castiel as he got out of the car; the campus grounds were empty.

It seemed as if everyone was inside attending lectures; Dean was a little more on guard from then onwards, since when did everyone stay indoors and study?

"We are here to meet Sophia." Castiel said as he slipped his angel sword inside his trench coat. He didn't even realize that it had been missing until then.

Dean stopped walking then. He turned around so quickly that Castiel was surprised at his speed too. "_Here?_ This is where the Archangel of Wisdom is? At a university?" It sounded hilarious coming from his mouth, but he didn't laugh.

"Yes. Sophia's vessel Sara is a part of the University's faculty. She has been here for many years now." Castiel had walked ahead of Dean towards one of the buildings and was waiting there patiently.

"Oh. And here I thought she'd be a cheerleader or something." Dean said, feigning sadness.

"Sara is the philosophy teacher because her original position in heaven was as the Angel of Wisdom and she is also the dance teacher of the fine arts department. She believes that dance and music are the universal language of love." Castiel's tone changed as they neared their destination.

"How come she has two powers? Aren't there usually supposed to be an angel for each power? Shouldn't there be a separate Angel of Love then?"

Castiel fell silent for a moment. Things in heaven had gotten bad three decades ago and for two years after that until Aurora died, there had been utter chaos. "There was another Angel of Love, but he died… there was no one else to take up his position, until Sophia insisted that she was powerful enough to hold both powers, so Michael chose her to take up the power of Love as well… she switches her hold on her power of Wisdom to Love more often, because she wants to balance it out. Sophia is wise and practical, but yet believes strongly in love and its powers on all of us…" His voice suddenly drifted off.

"What?" Dean asked him, having caught on to Cas' sudden change. "You don't believe in all that stuff about love?" Dean never teased Castiel about love, knowing it was pointless since angels didn't really understand the concept of love and the butt load of feelings and emotions that came with it. Except of course, the Archangel of Love, who in this case also happened to be the Archangel of Wisdom.

"No. It is not that." Castiel said slowly, "I have not met Sophia in more than twenty years now. I saw her briefly once in Chicago when I first took on this form…" Castiel was interrupted by Dean who was wondering how many more surprising things he would hear that would actually surprise him.

"Wait a sec, you mean to say that you haven't met this Sophia chick in twenty years? How old is she? And how did you know she was here?"

"She called me. As for her age, in human years she is not very old but for an angel, she is one of the few who have been in heaven almost as long as Michael has been." Castiel replied, as he turned around and pushed the doors open, they were heading inside the auditorium and Dean didn't get to ask how exactly had Sophia _called_ Castiel.

There was a rehearsal going on in the auditorium when Dean and Castiel entered. And that was where Dean found the answer to his doubts of seeing no students outside, it was because they were all in here, watching the performance, completely entranced by the woman on stage. Dean had to take one look at her to figure out that she was Sophia, who was in form of the archangel of love.

"Oh boy…" Dean said with a sigh as he continued to stare at the woman onstage, performing for her students.

"Dean… we need to go talk to her as soon as she is done." Castiel was unaffected by her presence, or so it seemed. Being an angel meant that he wasn't as vulnerable to the Angel's beauty and charm like Dean and the other humans were.

"Yea sure." Dean mumbled as he sighed again. His eyes were transfixed on the stage, watching her dance.

Castiel had expected this and simply stretched his hand and grabbed Dean's jacket and pulled him towards the steps that would take them backstage. It wasn't empty, but it would be the easiest way to get Sophia's attention.

For several minutes, there was silence all over save for the soft music of Tchaikovsky that was playing on someone's I-pod. Dean and Castiel faced no problems in getting backstage and once there, they blended well with the other people there, students and teachers alike. All of them simply entranced by Sophia. As soon as the music reached its climax and ended, everyone erupted in a loud applause, some of the boys whistled and yelled a few vulgar words as well. No one seemed to remember that Sophia was a teacher. She gracefully bowed to her audience before glancing back and noticed Castiel standing in the wings. Just then, a group of students joined her on stage. She whispered a few words to them, before taking the mike from a young girl and addressed the crowd.

"Thank you everyone! Now if you'll excuse me, I shall allow my students to continue with their rehearsals. Those who wish to stay back can do so, the rest of you may head back to your classes, lectures will begin soon." Her voice was as mystical as she was.

A lot of students quickly shuffled out, leaving a handful of them seated in the audience. The area where Castiel and Dean stood was empty now. Dean had to be elbowed in the ribs by Castiel as Sophia started walking towards them. She was very young, not more than 30 something but looked as if she were 16. Her face was heart shaped, she had long honey colored hair that fell in waves till her hips and had a perfect sculpted figure. She was extremely graceful when she walked which was almost as if she were gliding, her brown eyes seemed to sparkle and there was an aura of partially visible light around her as she approached the two men.

"Castiel!" She said as she greeted her old ally, his name flowing past her perfectly thin and pink lips.

"Sophia." Castiel said bowing slightly before shaking her hand, she was his superior after all and in spite of what Dean had initially thought, Sophia's presence so close to them seemed to have some affect on the angel.

"And you must be Dean," Sophia greeted him as any normal human would as she turned with her hand extended towards him. "Dean Winchester. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She smiled, revealing stunning white teeth. Everything about the angel seemed perfect.

Dean simply nodded as he shook Sophia's hand, he wasn't able to speak just yet.

"Come, let us talk somewhere in private. We don't need the walls to hear what we have to say." She told them as she led them through the stage door and out onto the campus grounds again.

Dean suddenly felt as if something had changed in the air; he was normal again. He glanced at Sophia and saw her standing beside Castiel, looking the same but yet she seemed more human now, the glowing light around her had vanished completely. She noticed Dean's confused expression and simply smiled at him.

"I am sorry about that Dean, it was the performance that made my powers take control. I normally do not intend to charm everyone around me. And I don't always appear perfect to humans, you could say that what you saw in there was almost as if seeing me in my true form. And I'm sure you know that an angel's true form can blind you and everyone around as well." Sophia's voice had lost the mystical touch to it, but still sounded pleasant.

"Yea I know that." Dean replied, "If you don't mind me asking, how are you…" His voice faltered, there were so many things that he wanted to know, but didn't know what to ask her first or how to ask her.

"How am I able to live so easily among humans being an angel?" Sophia guessed that was what Dean wanted to ask her.

"Yes. Its just that… normally, the other angels I know, except for Cas as well, you guys aren't really happy about having to be surrounded by humans all the time."

"Most angels are like that yes." Sophia replied, they had entered another building by now, and judging from the people inside the building, Sophia was taking them to her office, she went on, "But like you said, Castiel and I are exceptions to that, there are a few other angels who do not hate mortals as much as you seem to think as well. As for the answer to your question, I think we should wait until we reach my office. Besides, I am sure that you are more eager to find out how exactly I can help you with your situation at hand."

"My situation at hand?" Dean hadn't mentioned anything about Jo to her yet.

"Yes, Castiel told me about the girl, Joanna? She's been kidnapped by Zachariah and Raphael has she not? That's why he brought you here to me, for a solution."

"Is there another way?" Dean asked her, "Zach wants to exchange Jo for Ashley…"

Sophia stopped walking suddenly. They were still standing in the corridor, and a few teachers were roaming around them, but not paying close attention.

"Listen to me Dean," Sophia said as she turned to face him. "Whatever happens, do not let anyone get to Ashley, not Zachariah, not Raphael, nor any demon. You must protect her. You, your brother and Castiel. No matter the cost, she needs to be safe." There was something in her voice that told Dean that she wasn't giving advice, but a warning to him.

"Do you know anything about Ashley?" He asked her, knowing that he should have given her his word that he would do anything to protect her. But the mystery surrounding Ashley was growing more complex every minute. Dean knew that Sophia knew much more than she was letting on.

"Dean…" This time it was Castiel who spoke up instead of Sophia. "Sophia has all the answers we seek, but we must wait until no one is around before we can talk safely."

"Why are you two so paranoid about someone hearing us? Whoever hears us isn't gonna understand a word we're saying, they'll think we're fanatics or something." Dean looked at Castiel and then Sophia, wondering what was up with them.

"We are not the only angels here." Sophia replied, as she cast a furtive glance at the other teachers, suspicious and cautious of them all.

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Cliffhanger! Hahahaha... I hope to receive some reviews, if you all would be so kind to just press the button! ^_^


	19. Chapter 19

Thanks to my reviewers **WhitneySheree and Magdailovecastiel! **

**Disclaimer: **I love this show, Supernatural is the best show I have seen and it doesn't really matter if I own anything or not, I'm glad to be a part of the SPN family! ^_^

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"What do you mean by you two aren't the only angels here? Cas told me you're the only angel…" Dean was hoping that Sophia did not give him the answer he was dreading.

"It is true that I am the only angel for miles around, but it appears that there are at least two other angels inside the campus at this very moment. I believe that you and Castiel were followed by Zachariah's men." Sophia replied as she took hold of Dean's hand and quickened her pace.

"Great, so now what do we do?" Dean asked, vaguely aware that Sophia's hand was still holding onto his.

"We need to reach my office, we'll be safe there. Its protected by a few Enochian incantations." Sophia said as she turned a sharp left and stopped outside a polished wooden door with the name, _"__Sara Tomasi__"_on a bronze plaque.

She removed a set of keys from her pocket, quickly unlocked the door and led Dean and Castiel inside before locking the door once again and muttering a simple Enochian spell that would raise a barrier around the office. Once that was done, she crossed the plush carpeted office and pulled the window shutter's down, cutting off the sunlight. The three of them now stood in the office which was lit by a tiny chandelier on the ceiling. Sophia beckoned for Dean and Castiel to sit down while she opened her desk drawers searching for something.

"We don't have much time, I don't know where exactly the angels are, but I can feel their presence here on the campus." Sophia explained to them as she shuffled through files and stacks of papers. "Castiel, do you not sense them?" She suddenly asked him, as she stopped her searching.

Castiel was silent for a moment. He had not mentioned to Sophia that he had lost all of his powers rendering him temporarily human. He was still an angel in the sense that he had not been stripped of his vessel and knew he retained that all the weaknesses that angels possessed. Before he could answer Sophia, Dean took charge and addressed her.

"The thing is Sophia, Cas was involved in a fight and he lost his angel mojo while trying to save himself from being killed." Dean knew that if he made it short, it would be better.

Sophia stood straight then, holding a knife in her hand with a surprised expression on her face. This was clearly something that the older angel had not been expecting to hear.

"When did this happen?" She simply asked, directing her question to Castiel.

"Last night." Castiel replied. "I am still healing…" He lifted his shirt to show that the stomach wound was still not closed. There was no blood on the bandage though.

Sophia's eyes widened as she saw the extent of Castiel's injuries. She closed her eyes for a second before opening them again and then walking around her desk to where he stood. Without saying a word, she placed a hand on his stomach wound and healed it, along with the rest of his injuries.

"You're healed now. But I don't know if your powers have returned or not. Why don't you try something?" Sophia asked him, seeming much calmer than she was a minute ago.

Dean watched as Castiel tried to summon fire, having had the ability to do so. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then, a tiny ball of flame formed in his hand. Castiel closed his palm, extinguishing the fire and looked at Sophia and then Dean.

"Thank you." He said to Sophia. "I have my powers back now, we can take care of Zachariah's men when they come for us." It wasn't clear to whom Castiel was addressing but he also added to Sophia, "I will make sure that your cover will not be exposed. No one shall know that you are here."

Sophia smiled brightly at him then, and set down the knife on the desk. She slipped a hand behind her back and removed her angel sword and handed it to Dean who took it with a questioning look at her.

"Every angel has their own sword, but that does not mean we all use it. I believe in wisdom as well as love, not foolishness and violence. But don't worry, there are other ways to fight an angel, if not kill them." Sophia explained herself with a wink. "Alright, enough of delays, we don't have much time, I can sense the angels' presence inside this building. We need to make sure that you two get out of here fast." She told them.

"What do I have to do to get Jo back?" Dean cut straight to the point and asked the only question he needed the answer to.

Sophia looked up at him, with a mixed look of happiness and sadness. She took a deep breath and sat down on one of the chairs before replying.

"I knew you would ask me this question, but a part of me hoped you would have asked for something to which you didn't have the answer to already." Sophia said softly.

Dean looked at her with a puzzled expression. He didn't understand how that was possible. But before he could ask Sophia anything else, she spoke again.

"You have to say _yes_ Dean. It's the only way Zachariah will free Jo. He doesn't need her or Ashley once he has you." She clearly wasn't happy with the solution herself but it was the truth.

Her words hung in the air around them for several seconds. Dean had closed his eyes and was thinking about what Sophia had told him; it was true that he had thought of the idea before, but he hadn't believed that there was no other way to save Jo. He would not give Ashley under any circumstances, he did not know why he was so protective of her, but it didn't change the fact that he would do all he could to keep her safe as well.

"So you're saying that if I give myself over to Zachariah to become Michael's puppet then he'll leave Jo alone?" Dean asked Sophia as he opened his eyes, having made his decision.

"Sophia!" Castiel's eyes were flaring with anger. He had not expected this from her. "You cannot let Dean hand himself over to Zachariah, I have given _everything_ to protect him and I will not allow him to be harmed in any way." His hand shook as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. Castiel's anger was unlike anything Dean had seen before.

There was a rage in him that had come out of nowhere; Dean had believed that Castiel was always protective of him because he had resurrected him from Hell and was his guardian, but to see him with emotions running so high was something Dean had not expected.

"Cas…" Dean started to say but stopped himself when Castiel raised his hand to silence him. He wasn't even looking in his direction, he was focused on Sophia who seemed unaffected by Castiel's anger.

There was silence in the room for a few minutes, during which Dean heard some sort of commotion going on outside the office. Zachariah's men must have found their location and would be here any minute now.

"Cas!" Dean tried to get through to his guardian one more time, "We don't have time to argue about this right now! It's the only solution we have and I'm taking it." Castiel turned to face Dean when he heard those words. "Look, I know that you're worried about me turning into a vegetable once Michael's through with killing Lucifer and ending the Apocalypse, but if it means that Jo will be safe, I'm willing to take any risk."

"Why?" There it was again. The voice that was so cold that it sounded empty and emotionless. Castiel hadn't sounded like that since the day he met Dean.

"Because I love her Cas. You know that, I love Jo and would do anything to keep her safe even if it means giving myself over to Michael." Dean replied.

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Aww yay! Happy cliffhanger! Don't forget to review! ^_^


	20. Chapter 20

Thank you so much my reviewers **WhitneySheree and Bekyg620!** Here's a longer chapter just for you all! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I'm done with this.

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Castiel's face softened when he heard Dean's words, he was no longer aware of Sophia standing there watching them. The truth in Dean's eyes said it all, he loved Jo as much as he loved his brother and knew that if he had to die to save her, he would willingly do so. There was nothing that Castiel could say that would make him change his mind.

"Then I will stand by your decision Dean." Castiel said as he admitted defeat, "I trust that you know what you are getting yourself into. I just hoped that there was another way around."

Hearing Castiel's words awakened something in Dean, a feeling of newfound respect for the angel. Dean had not expected Castiel to let him go through with his plan but he was glad to know that when the time came, he would be there by his side.

"Thanks Cas…" Dean clapped his hand on the angel's shoulder and then turned to face Sophia. "I'd better go and see how the situation is out there… if its empty then I'll backtrack my steps and lead your winged pals away from here." He left before Sophia or Castiel could say anything.

"Are you sure you're completely healed Castiel?" Sophia asked him once the door had shut behind them.

"I am." Castiel replied and was about to leave when Sophia stood up so quickly and grabbed his hand, holding it tightly.

"Castiel…" Sophia whispered softly, coming close to whisper something in his ear, her breath cold against his cheek, "I know what you're looking for… I have the answers you need."

He looked down at her with eyes full of hope. It hadn't occurred to him to ask Sophia about Ashley until now, but there was no time left; Dean needed his help and that was the most important thing for him now. Sophia must have read his mind for she stepped back and smiled at him.

"Don't worry, you'll get them when the time is right. For now, take this to help you find some answers." Saying this, she unclasped the chain around her neck and removing it, placed it in Castiel's palm.

It was a delicate silver chain from which hung a tiny silver key. It looked small enough to be nothing but an accessory, but Castiel knew better. He had seen this necklace many times before, but never knew what it opened.

"Go to my house, and use this key to unlock the silver box… you should get the answer's you need. I don't think its safe for us to meet again, not for a while at least, take care Castiel." With that, she suddenly disappeared into thin air, leaving him standing alone in the office.

A loud noise from somewhere outside the office alerted him and Castiel grabbed the handle of the door and opened it. Surprisingly, the corridor in front of him was empty and the noise he had heard seemed to have come from inside the teacher's lounge which had suddenly been filled.

Quickly and quietly, he made his way towards the building's exit, keeping an eye out for Dean and the other angels, he had figured that Sophia had temporarily disappeared so that the angel's would not sense her presence; it would have been possible for them to do so only when they were very close to her, being an Archangel meant that her presence was hard to detect by other angels.

"Cas!" Dean's voice called out to him from his right, Castiel quickened his pace and as soon as he turned the corner, he saw Dean fighting the two angels off.

Drawing his sword from inside his trench coat, Castiel joined Dean in the fight and helped him to fight the angels, who seemed to have only one goal, injure but not kill. It was obvious that Zachariah and Raphael intended for their lackeys to bring a powerless Castiel along with Dean, but Castiel wasn't going to allow that, nor was he going to endanger the people he cared about by showing his powers had returned. Instead, in a few swift moves, he had pinned one of the angels to the floor and stabbed him in the heart, killing him instantly.

Behind him, Dean had managed to push the other angel towards the wall and using all his strength, he plunged the angel sword in his heart and closed his eyes as the light of his grace overtook his body before he too dropped dead to the floor. Dean was breathing heavily, but luckily was uninjured.

"What do we do about the bodies?" Dean asked Castiel, breaking the silence that surrounded them.

"We dump them someplace where Zachariah can find them easily." Castiel replied, hiding his sword once again.

They both glanced back at the teacher's lounge, no one had heard the fight outside and were all safe. Sophia suddenly re-appeared at the end of the corridor where they stood, looking relieved that Castiel and Dean were safe. She simply nodded her head before heading inside the lounge and closing it behind her.

"What was that all about?" Dean was confused now.

"Nothing. She is staying with the humans for now. I'll explain later. We have to go now." Castiel said as he picked up one of the bodies and swung it over his shoulder and signaled for Dean to do the same.

Fifteen minutes later found Dean and Castiel outside an old abandoned warehouse in; it was the same warehouse where Uriel had been killed last year along with the demon they had thought was Alistair. After leaving the bodies there, Castiel teleported Dean back to the Illinois University.

"Alright so now that we've gotten rid of the messengers, Zach and Raphael are gonna be major pissed." Dean said as he sat inside the Impala.

Castiel was about to reply when the phone on the seat beside him rang. He stared at it for a second before picking it up carefully, he was still perplexed about the strange instrument and how it worked. Dean started the car and began heading towards the house.

"Hello?" Castiel said, speaking into the phone.

"_Cas?" _It was Sam on the other line,_ "Where are you?" _His tone was filled with worry.

"We are on our way home." Castiel replied, "Is everything okay Sam?" He was getting better at communicating with people now.

"_Uh… not really, something's come up." _Sam was trying to tell him something, Castiel figured but wasn't able to for some reason.

"We should reach in 20 minutes Sam." Castiel said, not knowing how he would get Sam to tell him what had 'come up'

"_Alright." _Sam said before hanging up.

"Yes okay. Good bye." He snapped the phone shut and set it aside.

"What did Sammy say?" Dean asked, as he stepped on the accelerator.

"Something's come up." Castiel repeated Sam's words.

"That's it?" Dean didn't sound too convinced, he glanced at Castiel who didn't let his face betray any expression.

"We need to reach home soon." Castiel added.

"I'm on it." Dean said, knowing that if Sam needed them home soon, it was because something very important must have happened.

The next 15-20 minutes of the car drive was filled with silence, but an oddly comforting one; Castiel knew that Dean was thinking about Jo and if what Sam had found had anything to do with her. He had been there in Carthage all those months ago with the group but had been unable to reach Jo on time; he himself had been trapped and if it weren't for Dean's quick thinking, who knows what would have happened. From that night onwards, Castiel had seen the protectiveness Dean felt towards Jo increase every time they went on a hunt together, and he had also seen that no matter how much he cared about Jo, he would never stop her from doing anything unless it was too dangerous.

And back at the university, when Sophia had told Dean that accepting Zachariah's offer and allowing Michael to possess him was the only other way to save Jo, he agreed without giving a second thought about what would happen to him afterwards. Castiel had thought until that moment that no matter how much he cared about Jo, it wasn't enough for him to be willing to sacrifice himself again, just like he had done for Sam, but he had been proven wrong. He had seen the love Dean felt for Jo in his eyes, and he recognized it all too clearly.

"Cas!" Dean's voice suddenly broke through his reverie. "Come on, we've reached." He told Castiel as he parked the car in the driveway and got out.

Castiel shook his head clear, turning human temporarily seemed to have left some of its effects on him. But he knew that Angel or not, Castiel would always have a part of him that had turned human and it wasn't something he regretted anymore.

"Yes, let's go." Castiel said and teleported straight from the passenger seat to the door and waited for Dean there.

"Show off…" Dean muttered under his breath when he caught up to Castiel who didn't quite understand him.

Before they could remove the keys, the door opened and Ellen's face appeared from behind it. She was looking a little nervous about something, but didn't say anything yet.

"Dean!" Sam's voice called out from inside the hall. Dean and Castiel headed in that direction, following Ellen who was unusually quiet.

They found Bobby sitting on the sofa with the same grim expression that Sophia had on her face not too long ago. Sam was working on the laptop again, his brows furrowed as he searched for something, but Ashley was nowhere to be seen. Castiel sat down next to Ellen and waited for Sam to finish his work.

"Sammy? What happened? Cas said something's come up?" Dean asked his younger brother as he stood over Sam's shoulder trying to figure out what was going on.

The screen of Sam's laptop had multiple windows open, Dean noticed. But the one that Sam was taking a look at was the one that caught his eye.

"Sammy… is that what I think it is?" Dean asked, his eyes growing wider by the second as he read the page.

"Yes. But forget about that for now," Sam replied, closing the laptop for a minute and turning around to face Dean, "Take a look at this." He handed a paper to Dean who hesitated for a second before taking it from Sam's hand. He did not open it.

"What is this?" He asked Sam.

"Open it." Was all Sam said, until he stood up and faced the sofa, "Cas, I think you should take a look at it too." He added.

Puzzled, Castiel stood up and walked across the hall to where Dean and Sam were standing. Dean opened the paper and read it; he was frowning now and from the expression on his face, Castiel knew that something was very wrong. For the first time in a very long time, Castiel did not want to know what was written on a piece of paper.

"Dean…" Castiel spoke in a soft tone, he was a foot or two away from him.

"It's… its Ashley's birth certificate." Dean answered Castiel's question before he had even asked it.

"What about it?" Castiel did not understand what was wrong.

"Everything's been blackened out. Nothing's visible. Not the hospital name, nor her parents' name, just her name, Ashley Collins, her date of birth and her doctor's name." Dean was still confused about something. "It's her Cas… the doctor." He went on to say softly.

"Who?" Castiel asked him, but was met with silence. He looked at Sam, who didn't say anything either. "Who was Ashley's doctor Dean?" He asked him again.

In reply, Dean handed the certificate over to Castiel who took it slowly and unfolded it. He saw the black ink covering most of the information, Dean was right. Only Ashley's name and date of birth was still visible. And right at the bottom, in the corner was the signature of her doctor.

"Dr. Sarah Thomas…" Castiel read the name that was printed below the signature.

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Uh-oh! Cliffhanger! ^_^


	21. Chapter 21

Hmm... only one review this time? Well it doesn't matter because its better than no reviews! Thanks **WhitneySheree! **

**Disclaimer: **I want Cas or Misha or both of them! ^_^

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For a minute, Castiel wasn't able to process what he had just read, but as soon as he realized it, he looked up at Dean and Sam with a confused expression written all over his face.

"I do not understand what this is supposed to mean." Castiel replied handing the certificate back to Dean.

"Cas, its Sophia… she changed her name from Sarah Thomas to Sara Tomasi…" Sam said as he opened his laptop and showed Castiel and Dean the records he had found.

"How is this possible? Sara Tomasi is Sophia's vessel and she is a teacher at Illinois State University, not a doctor." Castiel seemed to be equally puzzled about this new information they had discovered.

"Maybe she's a teacher now, but according to the hospital records, Sophia was a doctor almost thirty years ago. Check the photograph." Sam clicked on a thumbnail and enlarged it to reveal the face of Dr. Sarah Thomas.

"That's her alright." Dean said as he took a glance at the photograph. "But… hold on a sec, why does the hospital name have the address Lawrence, Kansas on it?" He furrowed his brows, something didn't feel right about that.

"I don't know Dean, but how is it that almost 30 years ago Sophia looks the same like she does now? If she was in her early thirties then, she should be in her sixties now… but you guys said that she looks young even now." Sam turned to Castiel, knowing that he would know the answer.

"Sophia is an archangel, she possesses certain powers that are very rare and unheard of amongst many of the angels. She has the ability to appear however young or old she desires. If Sam is correct then she must have changed her name over the years to remain inconspicuous to the humans." Castiel finally understood what Sophia had done, but he did not know why she had done so.

"Is it coincidence? I mean we don't know that Sophia was possessing this Sarah Thomas 30 years ago also, right Cas?" Dean asked, he had an anxious look on his face.

It took several minutes for Castiel to answer Dean. He was thinking hard about the incident that had ripped through heaven nearly three decades ago, first Aurora then... Sophia's loss... there had to be some connection.

"Cas?" Dean's hand on Castiel's shoulder made the angel glance up at him.

"I am not sure Dean; I do recall Sophia mentioning many years ago that her human vessel was named Sarah, but I cannot be sure if it was this Dr. Sarah Thomas who was being possessed by Sophia during Ashley's birth." Castiel told him.

Dean seemed to believe Castiel, he nodded his head and faced Sam. They had two issues to deal with, but one of them had a shorter time limit than the other. He had to put this one aside until he was sure that Jo was safely back with them.

"Sammy… does Ashley know about this?" Dean questioned his brother. He didn't know if telling her was the right thing to do or keeping this information to themselves until the time was right.

"No, she's still sleeping. Bobby and Ellen returned less than an hour ago and I went to check on her myself before you and Cas got back…" Sam knew what Dean was thinking about at that moment.

"Has she said anything about her headaches?" Surprisingly, it was Castiel who had asked this question, not Dean. He was groping invisible strings, hoping to find something that would give him some answers.

"Yea… she said that they started a few months ago… the exact date being the same day the 66th seal broke releasing Lucifer from the cage." Sam's expression was grim and thoughtful now. Ashley was very important to all of them, but how was she to stop Lucifer and the Apocalypse still didn't make sense to anyone.

"Great, so now we got one more clue to a puzzle that isn't gonna get solved anytime soon. Let's leave this for now, we've got bigger problems to deal with." Dean said, as he started to explain to the others about the angel encounter he and Castiel had while at the university.

"Zachariah's gonna be pissed as hell boy…" Bobby commented, speaking up for the first time after Dean finished talking.

"Yeah well it was the only way to draw him out…" Dean replied, trying not to let his emotions take control. "Zachariah wants a deal doesn't he? Well he hasn't called us with the details yet, so I figured I'd give him some motivation to speed things up." He added.

"And did this Archangel give you an alternative solution like you asked for? You're not giving the girl up are you?" Bobby asked him.

"No Ashley's no longer part of the deal. I'm gonna get Jo back without her…" Dean wasn't ready to tell the others of his plan, especially not Sam. Not yet.

"Dean…" Castiel's voice suddenly sounded distant.

Everyone turned to see Castiel standing where he was, with his head tilted as if he were trying to listen to something. 5 seconds went by… 10 seconds… 15... Finally Castiel spoke.

"It's a message from Zachariah, he wants the exchange done by sunset today. Give him Ashley and he'll give you Jo." Castiel repeated the message to Dean.

"Did he say where?" Ellen asked, looking hopeful.

"Van Nuys, California. They must be holding Jo in the green room." Castiel replied, as he broke the connection.

"The same place where they took me?" Dean asked raising an eyebrow. "It's in Van Nuys, California?" He repeated after seeing Castiel nod.

"Yes. Where did you think it was?" Castiel was confused as usual.

"I don't know, Jupiter? A blade of grass? Not _Van Nuys._" Dean said, looking a little dazed. The beautiful room he had been taken to was inside an airport?

"Forget that for now Dean. We should go now, sunset's only a few hours away." Sam told Dean as he headed to get his backpack but Dean held his arm out, stopping Sam.

"No Sammy… you're not coming. Its gotta be me and Cas…" Dean said, knowing that he had to tell Sam about his plan.

Sam stared at Dean for a second as if his older brother was an alien. He raised an eyebrow and brushed Dean's arm off of his chest.

"Excuse me? Since when do you go barging in to face two angels on your own with only Cas? No offense Cas…" Sam added as an afterthought, "I'm coming with you guys." Sam tried to move away but Dean blocked him again.

"I said you're not coming Sammy… I'm sorry but you're sitting this one out." Dean was firm.

"Yeah? And why's that? I care about Jo too and I can help you with your new plan…" Sam retaliated.

"No you can't. Look Sammy, I'm doing this for your own good. Just stay out of this one." Dean didn't have the courage to tell Sam the truth.

"Dean… Sam deserves to know the truth." Castiel said to him softly.

Silence filled the room around the five of them. Ellen and Bobby were quiet again, but judging from the looks on their faces, Dean knew that they must have figured something out by now. He focused his gaze on Sam, who was waiting to hear the words he was dreading come from Dean's mouth.

"I'm giving myself to Zachariah in exchange for Jo. Michael's more important than Ashley… they'll have to accept my offer…" Dean finally told Sam, not meeting his brother's eyes.

At first, Dean thought that no one was saying anything because they hadn't heard him or because they hadn't gotten over the shock yet. Suddenly a loud noise, a crash was heard somewhere nearby. Dean looked around, and his eyes landed on the staircase where he saw hundreds of glass pieces lying shattered on the carpeted floor. And standing behind the broken glass was Ashley who was holding a piece of whatever it was that had broken in her hand and staring at him, her eyes wide and he heard a gasp of surprise and shock escape her quivering lips. And he knew that Ashley had heard him.

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Need I say it again? Cliffy! ^_^


	22. Chapter 22

Thanks once again to my sole reviewer **WhitneySheree! **To my other readers who haven't been able to comment, its all right, no worries at all! As long as I get even one review, I'll continue my daily updates! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **Okay so I know I don't own anything of the show, but maybe one day I'll own some merchandise... hehe...

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But before Dean could move to go to Ashley, Sam held him back. Everyone else seemed to have been brought out of their shock on hearing Dean's plan when they heard the glass shattering on the stairs next to them.

"Dean…" Sam's face was unreadable. He had an expression that seemed to have no emotions at all. "This is suicide. You can't just hand yourself over to Zachariah. Weren't you the one who said that you'd rather die than become Michael's meat suit?" Sam knew that there was no way he could stop Dean from going through with his crazy idea, but he still had to try.

"Yeah well things have changed since then Sammy… look, I know you're probably thinking that I'll turn into a coma guy or something once Michael's done with me…" Dean stopped for a second when he saw Sam raise an eyebrow hearing his words, "Okay you know that I'm gonna turn into a vegetable after Michael's done with me, but think about everything else… Jo will be safe and once Michael's on earth, he'll kill Lucifer before _you_ turn into Lucifer and the world will be saved." Dean was horrible at explaining things concisely.

"And do you think that being safe is the only important thing for my daughter?" Ellen suddenly said, speaking up. "It's not gonna be enough for her to live a proper life without you in it!" Ellen's words caused Dean to look at her with an appalled expression, "Oh don't give me that look boy!" Ellen continued, "Everyone in this room knows that you and Jo love each other, we're just waiting around for you to say something to her!"

"We have got bets on who says 'I love you' first… everyone thinks that at this rate, Jo will be the one, not you. But I have my money on you." Castiel added, making Dean look even more shocked.

"Uhh… thanks Cas…" Dean managed to reply before getting his head cleared, "But I think that Jo's strong enough to handle herself without me. She'll find someone better…"

"I think we should let Jo be the judge of that." Ellen replied, "She wouldn't want you to do this Dean…" Her voice softened as she spoke, "Don't do it …"

"I have to Ellen… it's the only way…" Dean looked towards Bobby who just scoffed and mumbled something about Dean being an idjit. Turning to Sam, Dean hoped to find some sort of support from his younger brother.

"You're crazy you know that?" Sam told him, point blank. "Do you actually think this will work?" He asked his brother, even though he knew the answer.

"Crazy's the only thing we got Sammy, if it doesn't work then…" Instead of faltering as he spoke, Dean gave Sam a tiny wink.

Everyone was calmer now, they knew that Dean wasn't going to give up his idea despite them trying to convince him otherwise; in the end, they decided that even though it was a bad, crazy, suicidal idea, it was the only solution they had. Dean was getting ready to leave then, when he turned around and saw that Castiel had vanished.

"Where did Cas go?" Dean asked, as his eyes traveled towards the top of the staircase again. It was empty.

"I'm right here Dean." Castiel suddenly said from somewhere behind him.

Dean and the others turned around to find Castiel standing at the threshold of the door, holding Ashley's wrist in a tight grip. She was looking disappointed. It took everyone a minute to realize what had just happened, and as if reading their thoughts, Castiel spoke again, before any of them could.

"Ashley tried to escape while we were distracted I caught her trying to hot wire Bobby's car, she said that she's going to Zachariah and not Dean…" He was still holding onto her hand.

"And I would have managed to go if you hadn't stopped me." Ashley retorted, sounding hurt, but not angry.

Castiel turned to face her, looking bewildered. "How would you have reached California in less than two hours? It is on the east coast. it would take a good six hours to reach by flying and we do not have six hours." Castiel asked her.

"I would have figured something out. But there's no way that I'm letting Dean go…" Ashley repeated as she locked gazes with Dean, "I get that you want to save Jo and you'll do anything for her because you love her, but if you have a chance of being with her why won't you let me go?" She asked him. "And don't give me the whole family speech again," She went on to say, shaking her hand free from Castiel's grip, the anger rising in her now, "I don't know any of you people and you'll don't know me, so don't say we're family because we're not! If you don't want to give me to the Angels because I'm important and you don't want to sacrifice me for the greater good, then tell me that's the reason why."

"Fine." Dean replied, after Ashley's words had sunk in. "I'm not giving you over to Zachariah because they believe you're the alternative key to defeating Lucifer and ending the Apocalypse. They won't need you once they have me, and you can go back to your roommate and your work and live a normal life. You're not a hunter, you don't need to get caught up in this mess. You can go home once we're done here." He told her.

Ashley was stunned. She hadn't been expecting to hear Dean say that, but it was the truth. If Dean gave himself to Zachariah and allowed Michael to possess him, then everyone would stop trying to capture her. She would be safe to go back to Hannah and her work. She should have felt relieved, but she wasn't.

"Dean, we should go now. It's getting late." Castiel suddenly said, bringing Ashley out of her reverie. She just stood there quietly, without saying anything.

Dean exchanged a last look with Sam, nodded to Bobby and Ellen before picking up his backpack and walking past Ashley without glancing at her. Before they even knew it, Castiel had grasped Dean's arm and they had disappeared.

Dean and Castiel found themselves standing on a patch of grass inside Van Nuys a minute later, it was late in the afternoon already; they had plenty of time now and Dean wanted to make sure that Castiel understood the plan perfectly before heading inside.

"Cas," Dean started to say, as he placed his hand on the angel's shoulder. "Whatever happens in there, make sure that you get Jo out first. You can come back for me later. Get her to Ellen, okay?" The idea was to have Castiel teleport him back home before Michael took over his body, but they both knew that there was a chance Castiel wouldn't be able to come back for Dean.

"I understand Dean." Was all Castiel said. He removed his angel sword from his trench coat and began walking. "They're inside that abandoned muffler factory." Castiel pointed out to an old warehouse not too far from where they were.

"Alright, let's do this." Dean said to Castiel.

Once they reached the factory doors, Castiel suddenly stopped and raised a hand. "There are half a dozen angels in there…" He told Dean, who just nodded.

They opened the wooden door and saw nothing but darkness for a minute. Stepping inside cautiously, Dean and Castiel walked quietly there was nothing inside the building save for a tiny box shaped office that lay about thirty feet ahead of them, that was the green room, where Jo was being held by Zachariah. As soon as they both took another step forward, the door behind them closed with a squeak. Dean glanced over his shoulder and saw one of Zachariah's angel buddies standing there, with his angel sword in hand. The angel grinned stupidly but didn't move towards them.

Dean and Castiel started for the green room again, but this time they were blocked by three other angels who were all dressed exactly like Zachariah, black suits, white shirts and a tie which made them look freakishly alike. One of the taller angels who had held out his hand signaled for his subordinate to take away Castiel's angel sword. Reluctantly Castiel handed it over without saying anything. Thinking that they were clear, Dean started for the doors when the tall angel stopped him.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" He asked in a voice that sounded cold, emotionless and robotic.

"Nope, why would I need weapons when I have my personal angel killing machine right here?" Dean joked, trying to calm his nerves down. He prayed that they didn't search him, because when did Dean Winchester ever cross into enemy territory unarmed?

"You may proceed. Zachariah is waiting for you two." The tall angel said, buying Dean's lie so quickly and so easily that Dean wanted to laugh, but he didn't. There was no time for that now.

"Let's go Dean…" Castiel told him as he took Dean's arm.

The two of them walked past the angels towards the office building where the last two angels stood on guard. As soon as the tall angel gave the signal, they stepped aside and joined their superior who stood with his arms crossed, watching Dean and Castiel with a smirk on his face. Dean exchanged a quick glance with Castiel and then reached out for the door knob and turned it.

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Bum-ba-bum! Cliffhanger! Reviews would be greatly appreciated! ^_^


	23. Chapter 23

Thank you to my 2 reviewers **WhitneySheree and Beky620! **Your feedback is always appreciated! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I own none of the dialogues used in this scene, since most of them are exact words used in Supernatural Season 5 Episode 18.

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They immediately found themselves transported into what seemed like a new world; the grinning angels inside the abandoned factory had vanished, they were standing inside the 'beautiful room' where Dean had been brought to almost a year ago.

Dean's eyes quickly scanned the room, not taking in any of its fake beauty this time. He soon found what he was looking for; leaning against one of the ivory and gold walls, looking physically uninjured was Jo. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't sleeping. Zachariah was nowhere to be seen. Dean quickly hurried past the long table and knelt by her side, he sensed Castiel beside him but he had only eyes for Jo.

"Jo…" He whispered her name softly, touching her cheek with his hand.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, she looked at him for a second with a smile on her face, but when she saw only Castiel standing there, her eyes widened.

"Why did you come alone?" She asked him, sounding happy and yet scared at the same time.

"Does that really matter? What's important is that I'm gonna get you outta here safely…" Dean said as he placed his arm around her shoulders and helped her to stand up.

"But…" Jo started to say something, but didn't finish her sentence because standing five feet away from the three of them was Zachariah.

"Dean! Castiel! So good of you to drop by for a chat, how are you?" Zachariah smiled his most strained and fake smile ever.

"Peachy." Dean replied sarcastically, knowing he had to play along, he quietly passed Jo over to Castiel who held her close behind him.

"So, shall we get down to business then?" Zachariah asked Dean, knowing it was pointless to waste more time. "I don't see the girl anywhere, is she hiding?"

"She isn't coming Zachariah. Leave her out of this." Dean moved so that he stood in front of Castiel and Jo.

Zachariah feigned being hurt. "Now Dean, I told you we had a deal. I'll give you Joanna in exchange for Ashley. No Ashley, no Jo." He said.

"Yea? Well I'm here to offer you a better deal…" Dean said as he started to walk in the other direction, he was luring Zachariah away from Castiel and Jo.

"I'm listening." Zachariah said as he sat down on the edge of the table, with his arms folded across his chest.

"I'm ready." Was all Dean said.

"You're ready?" Zachariah repeated as he stood up suddenly, "I'm sorry, ready for what exactly Dean?" He pretended not to understand where this was going.

"For Michael. I'm ready. I'll do it." Dean stated the obvious. He knew Zachariah had wanted him to say it out loud, if only Jo weren't there... it would have been easier to deal with.

"Dean! No!" Jo screamed out as she tried to free herself from Castiel's hold on her.

"It's okay Jo, I know what I'm doing." Dean told her, but he didn't turn to look at her, he couldn't. He had expected this to happen but Dean knew he could trust Cas to keep her safe.

"No!" Jo pushed Castiel away, finally breaking free from his hold and ran across the room towards Dean.

Before she could reach him, Zachariah waved his hand ever so casually and Jo found herself flying across the room, she landed behind Zachariah, crashing into a glass showcase, shattering it as she fell.

"Now, now…" Zachariah said as he moved to block Dean who tried to go to Jo, "She can handle herself, after all she is a hunter like you isn't she? A little glass here and there won't do much harm."

"Let her go you son of a bitch! I told you I'm ready, call Michael down!" Dean yelled. He looked behind Zachariah's shoulder and saw Castiel bending in front of Jo.

"Why the rush Dean?" Zachariah taunted him "Let's have a nice talk first… we both know you won't be doing much of that once Michael takes over."

"What do you want from me?" Dean asked angrily, his fists were clenched tightly.

"Oh, nothing more from you Dean. Everything's going like the boss man said, its all fallen into place with you… no, I wanted to have a little chat with Castiel first… you know, to rub it in that he failed to protect you." Zachariah smirked as he rubbed his hands together. He turned to face Castiel who had stood up hearing Zachariah's words and was looking at him with hatred.

"I have not failed Zachariah. I have done what was asked of me, Dean Winchester does not need protecting anymore." Castiel spoke up.

"That's brilliant Castiel! Bravo!" Zachariah clapped his hands, "Alright then, tell me, is that why you let Dean come here instead of bringing the girl? I'm sure you must have raised some objection when you heard what Dean was planning to do?"

"I trust Dean." Castiel answered, not in the mood for chit-chatting with Zachariah, but was forcefully doing so.

"Interesting…" Zachariah said, "I suppose that's the only reason?" He asked, trying to sound casual about it.

"Yes." Castiel replied. He had a feeling he knew where this was headed.

"I'm impressed!" Zachariah confessed, "I was foolish then, to think that you were protecting the girl; saving her from a horrible fate. Like you were once upon a time, always saving the girls from danger." There was an evil twinkle in Zachariah's eyes now.

Castiel did not reply. He stood there staring at Zachariah, trying to find a way to stop his next words, but he found himself unable to do anything.

"What?" Zachariah asked him sounding shocked, "You have seen the girl haven't you? Looks a lot like her doesn't she? Or is it only the eyes? I heard that Ashley has the same eyes." He smiled at Castiel then, knowing there was nothing the other angel could do.

"Cas!" Dean's voice suddenly broke through their conversation. "Just go… take Jo and leave…" He didn't understand what Zachariah was talking about.

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport Dean… here, if its any consolation, let me call Michael down for you." Zachariah told Dean as he turned to look at the heavens. "Zodireda noco abramg nazpsad."

The chandelier began to shake as if an earthquake was starting. "There. He's coming. Now why don't you wait here while I finish up with Castiel?" Zachariah said to Dean.

"No." Dean said bluntly. "I have a few conditions." He said to Zachariah who turned to look at him with an expression that clearly showed the older angel wanted to do nothing but kill Dean then and there.

"Conditions? Sure fine, make a list." Zachariah replied. "Now Castiel…" He started to say, but Dean cut him off again.

"But most of all," Dean said, "Michael can't have me until he disintegrates you." Grinning, Dean knew that the cards had been dealt, he was going to win this.

Zachariah stared at Dean as if he hadn't heard him. "What did you say?" His eyes were wide with surprise.

"I said… before Michael gets one piece of this sweet ass… he has to turn you into a piece of charcoal." Dean stated ever so casually with a shrug.

Zachariah laughed at that. They both had forgotten Castiel and Jo were still there; Jo was conscious now and was being supported on her feet by Castiel who was watching the whole thing unfold in front of him.

"You really think Michael's gonna go for that?" Zachariah asked Dean, not believing what he had just heard.

"Who's more important to him now?" Dean retaliated, grinning at Zachariah, "You? Or me?"

Zachariah had closed the distance between him and Dean so quickly that for a second, Castiel almost reacted, but he caught himself. He was planning to let this play out without attracting attention to him or Jo. Zachariah grabbed Dean's collar and was standing so close to him that he could feel the angel's anger.

"You listen to me…" Zachariah said, stressing each word. "You are nothing but a maggot inside a worm's ass. Do you know who I am? After I deliver you to Michael…"

"Expendable…" Dean answered for him; he didn't even flinch. There was nothing that Zachariah could to do him.

Zachariah laughed again, in spite of his anger. "Michael's not gonna kill me… you don't know the things I've done boy! You're just a meekly human being with no power at all. Me? I'm one of the powerful angels in heaven, heck I've even killed some of them. The traitors for example. Like Aurora… beautiful angel, but she always tried to put her nose where it didn't belong so I killed her. Simple as that."

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Was that a BIG cliffhanger or was that a BIG cliffhanger? Hahahahaha! Hope I still get reviews!


	24. Chapter 24

A big thanks to both my reviewers **WhitneySheree and Bekyg620** for your great comments and positive feedback! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I don't know how long I can keep on doing this... give me someone! Anyone!

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The only noise that was heard then was the sound of Michael descending from Heaven. The room was shaking now, lights were flickering and the furniture was rattling. In the midst of all this, it was as if time had suddenly stopped. Dean had heard Zachariah's boasting, but in his overconfidence, Zachariah had forgotten that Castiel was still present in the room with them. The second the words left Zachariah's mouth, Castiel had changed suddenly; his body was starting to glow as his true form was emerging, but he seemed to have some sort of control over it.

His anger, fury, hate, disgust, and his hunger for justice more than revenge was fueling his power as he moved with such speed that no one in the room realized when he had pushed Jo into Dean's arms, removed the angel sword that Dean had hidden inside his jacket sleeve and plunged it into Zachariah's heart, killing him instantly. As the old angel fell dead on the floor, his black wings burnt on the marble, Castiel managed to get a hold on himself and turned to Dean and Jo.

"We have to get out of here now." His voice sounded devoid of any emotions, it wasn't even cold, it was just... nothing. Empty.

Dean and Jo were too shocked to say anything, so they simply nodded and Castiel placed both his hands on their shoulders and teleported them out of the impending destruction of the green room and back to their house in Illinois. A second later, the three of them had reached the safe house and were standing back inside the hall. Ellen, Bobby and Sam had been waiting; all three of them pacing impatiently around the hall, for them to return and the minute they realized that Jo was safe now, and Dean was surprisingly with her, the atmosphere broke into relief around them all as Ellen started to cry tears of happiness.

"Jo!" She exclaimed as she pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "Oh thank God you're alright! I was so worried about you, are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Ellen asked Jo as she noticed the tiny scratches on Jo's arms which had been caused when she was thrown against the glass.

"I'm fine mom. You should be thanking Dean. And Cas too. He saved both of us from Zachariah…" Jo explained to her mom. She was a bit shaken after seeing what Castiel had done but knowing it was to save her and Dean gave her some comfort.

Sam looked at Castiel. He had given his brother a hug and was about to ask Dean how he had managed to escape from Zachariah and Michael; now, hearing Jo's words, he turned to the angel for answers. But Castiel did not reply. He was standing there in the hall with them, but it seemed as if his mind was somewhere else. Dean noticed this and quickly spoke up.

"Yea… Cas was amazing Sammy. Turns out he wasn't genuinely happy about my suicide mission after all. So he waited until Zachariah summoned Michael and then stabbed him straight in the heart with his angel sword and teleported us back here before I became Michael's meat suit." Dean answered, telling Sam and the others what had happened.

"Well then I guess you two better be thankful to Cas here…" Bobby said as he hugged Jo and then clapped Dean on the back.

Dean just nodded, he wasn't paying attention to Bobby. Castiel was still quiet, staring in the opposite direction, with his back to everyone else. They all assumed that Castiel was being Castiel; since he wasn't used to human emotions and feelings, they figured it wouldn't be the best idea to hug him as well. Dean was distracted by a sudden movement on the staircase; turning around, he saw Ashley sitting on the steps. She was staring at Castiel too and seemed to have noticed that he was only physically present with the rest of them, while his mind wasn't. Dean looked from Ashley to Castiel and back to her once more and he remembered what Zachariah had said.

"_Aurora, beautiful angel. But always sticking her nose where it didn't belong, so I killed her. Simple as that."_

Being so recent, everything that had happened just minutes ago was still fresh in his mind. Dean recalled how Castiel had reacted when he heard Zachariah's words and remembered how the angel had killed him in a single swift move that Dean hadn't had time to even blink once. He was focused on staring at Ashley now, who hadn't realized that Dean was watching her.

"_You have seen the girl haven't you? Looks a lot like her doesn't she? Or is it only the eyes? I heard that Ashley has the same eyes."_

"_What had Zachriah meant by that?" _Dean thought to himself as he stood there._ "Who was this other angel, Aurora? And why did Cas react like that?" _Dean knew that he needed to talk to Castiel about it, but now was not the right time.

He glanced at the angel once more and on closer inspection saw that his guardian had changed. He looked different suddenly, it wasn't that he seemed more human then, but how he was taking in everything he had heard from Zachariah. And judging from the looks of it, Dean knew that Castiel was hurt and in pain. He looked… shattered; almost as if something that he had been holding onto for a very long time had suddenly broken into a million pieces and wouldn't be fixable ever again.

Unfortunately at that very moment, Ashley broke her gaze from Castiel and caught Dean staring at her. She stood up so quickly and ran up the stairs before Dean could say anything. No one else had seen her. The others were busy with Jo in the kitchen, treating her cuts and scratches. Taking a deep breath, Dean knew that he needed to talk to Ashley; he shouldn't have said all those things to her, and definitely not in such a cold, heartless tone.

"Dean?" Sam's voice broke Dean's reverie. He turned to Sam who was staring at him with a weird expression on his face.

"What is it Sammy?" Dean asked his brother. He had seen Sam like that before, and knew something was up.

"Why did Cas suddenly leave?" Sam asked him. "He just took off about a second ago. Vanished into thin air like he always does. Did something happen?" Sam knew something was wrong.

Dean glanced back and saw that Castiel had indeed disappeared as he usually did. He turned back, met his brother's gaze and thought about whether he should tell Sam about what had really happened back there; but he didn't want to say anything without speaking to Castiel first. And that was a problem now, since Castiel was long gone again.

"Nah, Cas must've gone to see Sophia or something. He'll be back soon." Dean smiled at Sam, "Where's Jo?" He asked his brother, changing the topic.

"She went to upstairs to sleep. Ellen told her that she needed to rest, you missed a tiny battle in the kitchen. But Ellen won as usual." Sam grinned as he replied.

Dean nodded again. If Jo had fallen asleep in her room, it meant that Ashley was either in his room or in Castiel's room. As if reading his thoughts, Sam continued, "You should go talk to her now. Jo will still be sleeping when you're done. You can go to her then."

"I have to talk to Ashley don't I?" Dean said as he closed his eyes, looking slightly frustrated. "Sheesh Sammy, since when have I become such a mushy guy? I seriously don't do chick flick moments and I'm not grandma goose or something!" He mumbled something about girls as he started to head upstairs.

"Its called love Dean!" Sam called out to him, snickering as he did so. "Jo's sleeping in our room so you'll find Ashley in hers." Sam added. He shook his head as he saw his brother stomp up each step and smiling to himself, went to talk to Ellen and Bobby.

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You like? You love? You wanna review? Please do! Hahaha... that rhymed... ^_^


	25. Chapter 25

Thanks to my reviewers **WhitneySheree, Bekyg620 **and to my new reader **ThursdaysChild97 **for joining in!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything or anyone.

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Upstairs on the first floor, Dean had reached Ashley's room and saw that she had left her door open just a little bit; it was big enough for him to slip inside without getting her attention. Once inside her room, he quietly closed the door with no noise. He turned around to see if Ashley had seen him, but she was standing with her back to him, in front of her bed with a large suitcase lying open on the mattress.

"What are you doing?" Dean suddenly called out, realizing that he had startled her. But he had been shocked to find Ashley with her suitcase open.

"Dean!" Ashley had started for a second when she heard his voice and turned to find him standing near her bedroom door. "Jesus! You scared me Dean…" She said to him as she went back to her work, ignoring his question completely.

Ashley didn't know that Dean still had a bit of a temper when it came to people ignoring him or not listening to what he had to say, so she was a bit surprised when he suddenly crossed the room in a few short strides and slammed her bag shut.

"We need to talk Ashley…" Dean said and went on before she could protest. "Look, I know I said some really bad things to you before leaving and I shouldn't have. I wasn't mad at you for wanting to go in my place to save Jo, since you didn't like the idea that I was going on a suicide mission. But I just needed you safe. And whether you like it or not, things over here work in unusual ways, so if we say you're part of this family now, we mean it. It doesn't matter whether we're best buddies since kindergarten or not, what matters is that we all are a part of this now, and that includes you."

Ashley hadn't looked at Dean while he was speaking, but now that he was done, she finally looked up and met his gaze. Her eyes were moist, but she managed to keep her voice steady, "That's the thing, I don't really belong here at all, I'm not a hunter like you said, and I'm scared Dean… I'm not used to being chased by hellhounds in the middle of the night or targeted by Heaven and Hell… heck I didn't even believe in Angels and Demons until a year ago! I don't want this Dean… I don't want to be important, I just want to go back to Hannah and do my work, you were right after all…" By that time, Ashley's voice had started to tremble and she glanced away, not wanting to face Dean.

Dean put both his hands on her shoulders and made her turn back to face him; she wasn't crying yet but her eyes were still watering. He sighed for a moment before he spoke to her.

"I wasn't right Ashley… I know that this must be way too much shit happening for you to handle, but you're not alone in it; you have all of us by your side, we're not gonna let anything happen to you. And as for not being a hunter, weren't you the one telling me you wanted to learn how to use a knife this morning?" He gave her that look where he always raised his eyebrow in a weird way.

"Yea but… that isn't gonna make me a hunter…" Ashley protested softly.

"I think that's going to make you better at defending yourself against the enemy when the time comes, and that's more important than being a cold, heartless person who kills without feeling anything. That doesn't make a hunter. We do it because we want to keep each other safe, that's what you're gonna do and that, that is what makes a hunter Ashley. I know you're scared but you don't need to be, not anymore." Dean gave her a smile, hoping to get one in return.

Ashley gave a hoarse laugh as she shook her head, smiling just a little. "You know Dean… I didn't think that this was where I saw myself at 28; I thought I'd be happily married now with a kid or two, working somewhere nice, maybe as a teacher or something… but I never thought that I'd be preparing to train and become a hunter to help stop the Apocalypse."

"Tell me about it…" Dean said as he sat down on the bed, "I've been a hunter for most of my life, I don't even remember the first few years when I was a normal kid living his life like everyone else did." He looked up at Ashley who had a confused expression; she didn't know about the Winchester's history and why he and Sam had become hunters.

"How old were you?" She asked him, sitting beside him.

"I was 4 when my mom died; there was a fire in Sammy's nursery and my mom was pinned to the ceiling, she couldn't move. My dad got Sam out of his crib and I took him in my arms and ran outside. Mom didn't make it. The fire burned our house completely. Since that night, my Dad set out to find what had killed my mom in that fire and for years and years after that we used to move from place to place, state to state with my Dad hunting and me taking care of Sammy. It was only much later did we find out that it was Azazel, a yellow eyed demon who had killed my mother, by then Sam and I had started hunting together, his girlfriend Jessica had been killed in the same way our mom had. With our dad's help, we found the Colt, a weapon that killed the son of a bitch; but in the end, my dad didn't make it either. Since then, we've been continuing our family business of hunting." Dean finished.

Several minutes passed by in silence without either of them saying a word. Dean kept on glancing at Ashley who seemed to be struggling with something; she was trying to tell him about herself, he guessed as much. When she finally spoke, he listened to her patiently.

"I don't know if Sam told you this, the headaches I've been having started only a few months ago." Ashley saw Dean nod, "But… there's something else that I didn't tell him. I was scared it might freak you guys out a bit."

Dean didn't say anything, but he had a feeling that he knew what Ashley was going to say next. He remembered Zachariah telling Castiel about Ashley having the same eyes as Aurora.

"My eyes… they weren't always like this. When I was born, I had bright blue eyes, and I remember having blue eyes for most of my life. I was fine until a few years ago, I think it was on my 23rd birthday that I found my eyes starting to take on another colored tinge to them. I didn't freak out too much, because I knew that people sometimes have two eye colors, like bluish green eyes are common, so I was cool with it. But then… as the years passed, the tinge didn't remain just a tiny circle around the blue…." She stopped speaking then.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked her; he was intrigued now. He had seen Ashley's eyes up close that morning and noticed a small line in the middle of the blue, it was barely half a line that wasn't blue and very easy to miss.

"I mean… my eyes don't just have a bit of different color to them anymore Dean…" She replied and then taking a deep breath, she put her hand to her eye and a split second later, Dean saw a tiny blue circle lying on her palm. Colored contact lenses.

"You wear lenses?" He asked her, sounding surprised, "But… why? Oh…wow!" Dean looked up from her hand to her eyes and saw the reason why she needed to wear contact lenses. He was a bit baffled for a minute but didn't say anything.

Ashley hastily put the blue contact lenses back on. "By the time I was 26 they had turned like this, and that's when I started to freak out a bit. I read about this kind of thing being rare, but there aren't a lot of people who suddenly wake up one day and find that their eyes are changing color; so I started using blue contacts to cover it up. People just think that its only a tiny bit so they don't get scared." She explained.

Dean saw that Ashley nearly said something else, but held herself. He wasn't freaking out after seeing what he had seen, but was intensely calm. He also knew for sure what Ashley had wanted to ask him.

"Don't worry… you're not a demon. I'm sure of that." Dean said, reassuring her, "Even though we've come across demon with different colored eyes, they generally have black eyes and since you don't have black eyes at all, you can't be a demon." He saw that Ashley didn't look to convinced, so he went on to add, "I can give you holy water if you're thirsty."

She met Dean's gaze then, and saw him grinning at her, which made her break into a big smile. "Thanks but I've had holy water once before… from Hannah's bottle actually. I had forgotten that I had spiked it the day I met her and there was a little bit remaining at night so I guess that proves I'm not a demon… right?" Ashley asked him.

"Relax. The angels wouldn't be after you if you were a demon. You're human and that's not gonna change okay? Now c'mon, why don't you head downstairs and see if you can help Sammy out with the case. He's sure to be doing some research work." Dean stood up and gave his hand to Ashley who took it and got up from the bed herself.

"You're still taking the McKinney case?" She asked him as they headed outside.

"It's the only thing we have to do. Zach's gone, Michael's still stuck in Heaven and he can't do anything to harm me cause he needs me, Lucifer has to call on one more horsemen of his which should take some time, so we're free. Which in hunter language means dead." Dean told her, eliciting a laugh from Ashley for the first time since they had met.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." She replied. "Are you going to check on Jo now?" Ashley asked him.

"Yeah… I thought I'd go see if she needs anything." Dean said as he made his way towards his room.

"You know, you should probably tell her how you feel soon… I don't get why you aren't saying anything, its not like she doesn't love you back." She asked, wondering what was holding Dean back.

"I know that. I'm not worried about her saying no. I just wish that she should try finding someone who isn't dangerous or part of a cursed family." Dean answered, telling Ashley the truth behind his hesitance. He hadn't told anyone about it till now.

"Dean… we both know that's impossible. Jo loves you and she doesn't care whether you're a hunter or a Winchester or whatever. She wants to be with you, so make it happen or I will." Ashley sounded firm then. She was standing near the banister with her hands crossed.

"Yes ma'am!" Dean pretended to salute Ashley as she laughed again. "I'll talk to Jo tonight." He said, sounding sober again.

"Good. Now go!" Ashley ordered him and headed downstairs smiling to herself.

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Hope you liked the Dean and Ashley scenes! Please review! ^_^


	26. Chapter 26

I'd like to thank my reviewers **WhitneySheree, ThursdaysChild97 and Bekyg620 **along with my new reader **Navybee! **Here's a loooong chapter just for all of you ^_^

**Disclaimer: **Can I say I own Dean, Sam and Cas in the sense that their personalities here aren't exactly identical to their show ones? I'd love to say that I do!

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When Ashley reached the hall, it was empty. And quiet. She checked the kitchen and found it empty as well. Puzzled, she went to the den where luckily Sam was sitting on the table with dozens of books spread around him; he was working on his laptop and didn't hear Ashley enter. She quietly made her way through the maze of books and sat down on the sofa, getting his attention.

"Ashley, hey… sorry about the mess, I thought you had fallen asleep too." Sam apologized as he moved a few books from in between them to the floor.

"Its okay, I came to see if you needed any help. Where have Ellen and Bobby gone?" She asked him, as she picked up a book closest to her; it wasn't as thick as the other books.

"Ellen's gone to the grocery store to get supplies, we're not staying here for too long, but while we are, its best if we have food to survive on as well." Sam told her, "Bobby's gone to meet Rufus at some bar. He's trying to meet up with a few more hunters to see if its possible for us to head back home soon."

"Oh, okay. Dean's gone to check on Jo." Ashley told him, and Sam just smiled, happy to hear that his brother was getting to spend some time with Jo, Dean would take good care of her.

"Here, why don't you take this file instead and help me sort out the missing kids from the neighboring cities. So far, Illinois has had two disappearances, one in Bloomington and one here in Georgetown. I have a few files on missing kids from other cities, you can compare them with the reports of these two kids, Emily McKinney and David Reed both from Sioux Falls only, that makes 4 missing kids. The only thing they have in common is that they both went missing from the park, so check for other missing kids like that." Sam handed Ashley about half a dozen files as she left the book aside.

"Okay, I don't think this is the work of a ghost then. I mean the kids have been taken during the day time, and as far as I know, ghosts don't come out at night." Ashley voiced her thoughts to Sam.

"No, it isn't a ghost behind the kidnappings, but that doesn't mean we can rule out a ghost; the McKinney's house is probably haunted as well." Sam suggested one possible idea.

"Do you know what is taking the kids?" Ashley asked him.

"It points to a Changeling. But there are a few discrepancies with the usual activity; normally changeling's kidnap children at night and take the place of the missing kids. But here, with these kids, they're missing. We're gonna have to find more information from the parents personally. It looks like only the few neighboring cities have this problem, so it's a narrower field, if it was the entire state then it would have been a bigger problem." Sam explained his theory to her.

"I think I've read about Changeling's… there's something about a mother changeling as well isn't there?" Ashley picked up another book that was lying open next to Sam and took one look at it, "That's a changeling?" She asked him, quickly closing the book as she scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Yep, that's their true form, you can see it only in their reflections. Otherwise they look like humans to everyone." Sam was busy searching for something that Ashley couldn't see clearly.

"Okay, well I for one don't think I'll be able to sleep without having nightmares about a Changeling or Hellhounds trying to shred me to pieces..." Ashley rambled off and then suddenly stopped herself when she realized that she had spoken the last few words out aloud.

Sam immediately shut his laptop down and turned to face Ashley who had buried her face in her hands. He had assumed that Ashley had a control over everything that had happened to her, but apparently he had been wrong.

"Hey," Sam reached out and took Ashley's hands in his, but she still didn't look up, "Look at me Ashley." It wasn't an order, just a simple request.

She turned to him and when she met his gaze, Sam saw that her eyes were nearly watering. He held onto her hands tightly, wanting to tell her that everything would be okay, but things in their lives were never so easy, but he also knew that Ashley was never going to be alone in this.

"I take it that you haven't been telling us the truth about how you've managed to get over the attack and that you're completely fine now?" Sam questioned her gently.

"Not really..." Ashley replied with a deep breath, "I just... I just... thought that maybe I could be a bit more braver about the whole situation, but the fact that demons exist and are out to kill me isn't really comforting and then to find out that angels exist too and they also want me just adds to me not getting enough sleep." She finished with a heavy sigh.

"Its alright Ashley, you don't need to be brave in front of us, we're like a family aren't we? And there's absolutely no problem if you feel like crying at anytime or wanting to run away from the whole thing because trust me, Dean and I have both been there." Sam confessed to her, "It doesn't matter if we didn't do it, but just knowing that we didn't have to hide it helped us become closer than we are." He went on to explain to her.

"I guess you're right..." Ashley said as she managed a small smile.

"Besides, for someone who's pretty new to this and the fact that you're not really a hunter makes it a great thing seeing how you've managed to hold yourself together. Just remember one thing Ashley, you're not alone anymore okay? You have Dean, me and everyone else who cares about you." Sam too was a bit confused about the closeness he felt towards Ashley, but brushed it off.

"Thanks. I honestly don't know where I'd be if you guys hadn't saved me that night." Ashley was relieved now, most of her worries and tension had disappeared already.

"Well we did save you, so let's stick to that. Shall we get back to work then?" Sam suggested to Ashley.

"Yes, let's." Ashley picked up one of the files and started working. For a while, it was quiet in the house. Sam and Ashley were working on the case without finding a lot to go on with; which eventually led to a prolonged silence.

"Say, did Dean mention anything to you about Cas?" Sam suddenly asked Ashley, catching her off-guard.

"About Castiel?" Ashley repeated. "No. Why?" She was curious now. Did Dean know something that no one else did?

"I don't know; did you notice the way Cas was when they came back? He seemed more distant than he usually is. And he took off without saying anything. Dean said it was nothing, but I've learned to recognize when my brother lies…" Sam said, closing his laptop and picking up a big leather bound book.

"Do you think Dean was lying before?" Ashley asked Sam.

"I think he was. Something must have happened with Zachariah that triggered Cas to kill him; I mean the plan was to let Dean call Michael from heaven and if Cas had a problem with that he would have objected to the plan in the first place." Sam was thoughtful now.

"Maybe he didn't want to let Dean down; I guess he thought that if he fooled everyone including Dean it would be easier for him to kill Zachariah, which _was_ his plan all along. Like Dean said, right?" Ashley guessed.

"Hmm… that could be possible. We should wait for Cas, he might be more talkative when he gets back." Sam surmised.

Ashley didn't say anything to that. She didn't really want to think too much about Castiel. She was worried about him, but so was everyone else; but instead of panicking, Ashley had decided to let things play out. She and Sam went back to their work. Several hours later, after Dean and Jo had joined them, Ellen and Bobby had returned home.

Night had fallen, but Castiel was still missing. Even after a quiet, uneventful dinner which had been prepared by Ellen and Jo, there was no sign of their angel friend; Dean was starting to get worried now, Castiel had disappeared for days on end before, but Dean knew this time was different from the rest, after what had happened with Zachariah and what he had said to Castiel, Dean was sure that his guardian wasn't going to be completely fine.

Bobby and Ellen retired to their rooms shortly after midnight, while Dean, Sam, Ashley and Jo went back to their research work in the den. But Dean was restless, his mind couldn't focus on the names of missing kids when his own friend was missing.

"That's it!" Dean exclaimed as he flung his pen down, "I'm calling Cas right now and telling him to come back this instant!" He announced, removing his cell and punching in the number that he had given Castiel to use temporarily for emergency situations.

Jo, Sam and Ashley stopped their work too and fell silent. They hadn't held their breaths for less than a second when they heard a ringing noise from somewhere around them. Dean looked around the room, his phone about a foot away from his ear. Jo suddenly got up and went towards the other sofa and after searching under the cushions, she removed a tiny cell phone that was ringing with "Dean Winchester" flashing on the screen. Dean cut the call, puzzled.

"I guess Cas doesn't want to be found…" Jo said as she placed the phone on the table in front of them.

She looked at Dean who was staring at his own phone, thinking about something. Jo was worried; she had never seen him act like this before, Castiel was known to disappear on them before and all those times Dean mostly just cursed under his breath, but this time his behavior was different and she knew why; they had talked about it when he had come to see her several hours ago. Dean had told her not to mention any of this to Sam if Ashley was around them at that time; he said that it would be simpler if he spoke to Castiel first and once they got to the bottom of this, he would talk to everyone.

Glancing back at Ashley, she saw nothing but an innocent girl who had been dragged into the middle of the Apocalypse with barely any knowledge of everything that was happening around them and the fact that she wasn't a hunter made her more vulnerable. But, under all of this, was there something hiding that Ashley herself did not know about?

"There is another way to contact Cas if you want…" Jo heard Sam tell Dean, who looked at his brother intently, waiting for him to continue, "You could… pray to him… to Cas, I mean. He is an angel so praying might work better than a phone call." Sam suggested.

Dean pondered over the idea for a second and then nodded his head. "Alright, let's call Cas the old fashioned way then…" He said to the others.

Dean closed his eyes and folding his hands over his knees he started to pray. "I now lay me down to sleep as I pray to Castiel to get his feathery ass back here… C'mon Cas…stop acting like a jerk, whatever you're doing isn't important and isn't gonna make a difference Cas. Its not gonna change the past so leave it where it belongs… Do you… do you copy?" Dean opened one eye first then the other looking disappointed as he saw Sam, Jo and Ashley watching him but no Castiel.

"Dean, it's okay… Cas will be back soon," Jo tried to reassure him. She was sitting next to him and gave his hand a tight squeeze to let him know that she understood.

"Yea…" Dean replied morosely, as he picked up the files again and began flipping through them.

For the next few minutes the four of them worked in complete silence except for the occasional whisper or two that was exchanged between Sam and Ashley. Dean was absorbed in distracting himself that he didn't notice anything until Ashley suddenly got up and started to make her way outside. He stopped her before she could reach the door.

"Where are you off to at this late hour young lady?" He asked her in a stern voice.

"Just going to the kitchen. I thought its time we had a midnight snack…" Ashley said as she glanced at the clock that now read half past midnight, "We didn't get a chance to have dessert before, so I thought now's a good time as any right?" She gave Dean a tiny smile.

"Dessert? Where did you get dessert from?" Dean raised an eyebrow, he had checked the fridge after dinner but hadn't found anything.

"I'm guessing you stuck your head inside the fridge but didn't see it?" Ashley folded her arms across her chest and stood there smiling at Dean who shook his head.

"Go on Ashley…" Sam chimed in, "Tell Dean what it is." He was smiling too. It had been Ashley's idea to help cheer Dean up and he had literally pushed her to go along with it.

"Alright. I'll let you in on the secret." Ashley agreed, "This afternoon, while you and Castiel were at the university I got a phone call from Hannah. She said that she had a surprise for me and wanted it to reach before I left, so I made up an excuse as to why I was in Illinois and by evening it had reached here." Ashley winked at Dean before leaving the den without saying anything else.

"What did Hannah send over?" Dean asked Sam who merely shrugged his shoulders as he tried to stifle his laughter. Dean turned to Jo who raise her hands in defense.

"Don't look at me, those two have been whispering about something or the other for the past 15 minutes, I know nothing, I was right beside you." She explained.

Dean stood up so quickly and dropped his files on the table as if he suddenly remembered something. Sam and Jo were behind Dean who was running towards the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen Ashley had already removed the package from inside the fridge, it was a white circular box tied with silver ribbons on top of it. She slowly opened the box and removed four plates and forks from the cabinet above her when she suddenly heard a whooshing noise behind her; Ashley spun around and nearly dropped the plate she was holding as she screamed in surprise; standing not more than five feet away from her was Castiel. Or at least someone who looked like him.

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Hehehe! Sorry about the cliffy! Hope to still get reviews! ^_^


	27. Chapter 27

For some reason I wasn't able to access your reviews and reply to them so I'm just going to give my reply here!

To **WhitneySheree: **Thanks for the review! Here's hoping this chapter helps with your excitement! Hehehe...

**ThursdaysChild97: **Thanks for reviewing! I thought it was a nice idea to bring back some of the old style of everyone working together on a case, make it seem normal.

**Disclaimer: **Hmm... I own... nothing? Really? *sigh* I want Cas and Misha! (Yep, still going on with this! ^_^)

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"Oh!" Ashley exclaimed as she set the pates down and rushed over to Castiel who was swaying left and right, having a hard time standing straight.

She caught him just before he tipped over, tucking one arm under his elbow and with her free hand helped him to stand by the wall. All this while, Castiel had been silent, but now he suddenly looked up staring wide-eyed at her.

"Beautiful..." He drawled, and it was only then did Ashley catch a whiff of his breath and figured what was wrong with him.

"Great. You're drunk aren't you?" Ashley asked the angel, looking exasperatedly at him. She still hadn't let go of him, even though he seemed to be standing properly now that he had his back to the kitchen wall.

"So very beautiful..." Castiel went on, his voice now a husky whisper. He didn't appear to have heard Ashley's comment.

"Umm... okay... I think I should go call Dean and the others." She didn't know if Castiel heard her or not but as soon as she left him and headed for the door, he reached out and grabbed her hand very gently.

The feeling of his hands on her skin was warm and soft and Ashley felt her breath catch as she turned around to face Castiel. The kitchen was dimly lit but it was enough to make out his features, those bright blue eyes could stand out anywhere. She found herself staring at those eyes, barely realizing that she was falling into their depths while all along Castiel was watching her quietly. A heartbeat of a moment passed when Castiel suddenly raised his hand to Ashley's face and carefully touched her cheek, breaking her chain of thoughts.

But before she could react to anything, Dean, Sam and Jo rushed into the kitchen just then and were equally surprised when they saw Castiel standing there, leaning against the wall looking completely out of it.

"You called?" He said to Dean, sounding very British like suddenly. He averted his gaze from Ashley and pretended that he wasn't standing close enough to feel her breath on his face less than a minute ago.

Dean went over to him and frowned, clearly not noticing the proximity between Ashley and Castiel. "Cas? Are you… drunk?" He asked the angel, trying not to frown at this sudden turn of events.

"No!" Cas replied rolling his eyes as if the thought of him being drunk was a preposterous idea.

Dean gave him a look that clearly said otherwise, causing Castiel to shrug his shoulders. "Yes." He replied sullenly.

"What the hell happened Cas?" Dean suddenly switched from being mad to worried again. It was a bit of a quick change for Castiel to catch on being drunk and he stared at Dean with a confused expression.

"I found a liquor store." Castiel answered Dean as he tried to move away from the wall, but started to sway as he did so, Dean caught him by the shoulders and leaned him back against the wall where he managed to stay upright. Somewhat.

"And?" Dean asked him, urging to elaborate.

"And I drank it." Castiel replied in a tone that sounded like isn't-that-obvious?

"You need to get some rest Cas, you're not in your senses now, we'll talk in the morning when you're feeling better." Dean told the angel as he took Castiel's arm around him and signaled for Sam to help him.

"Talk! What's there to talk about Dean? There's nothing left to say… everything's in the past, didn't you say to leave it there?" He raised an eyebrow at Dean who sighed as he and Sam helped Castiel to his feet.

"Fine. We won't talk then." He told Castiel.

Before leaving the kitchen, Dean turned to Ashley and Jo who had just stood there, staring as they watched the entire conversation between Dean and Castiel.

"Don't just stand there you two. I saw what was in that box. I'm going upstairs and when I get back you'd better have some pie left for us." With that, he and Sam headed towards Castiel's room, who was barely conscious now.

Five minutes later, they both returned to the den where four plates of Hannah's home made blueberry pie was waiting for them.

"We're lucky that Bobby and Ellen didn't wake up." Sam said as he picked up a plate, "Is this your roommate's special pie?" He asked Ashley.

"Yea, she loves baking. And she knows how much Dean loves pie." She replied with a half smile, "I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to scream…" Ashley started to say but Dean cut her off.

"No need to say sorry Ashley, Cas has a habit of sneaking up on people many times, although this is the first time he's drunk." He added as he dug into his pie. "Tell your roommate that this blueberry pie is more delicious than her lemon one we had yesterday. She's an amazing cook isn't she?" Dean looked at Jo then, who didn't say anything to that but agreed that Hannah's pie was indeed tasty.

"So how's Cas doing?" Jo asked the boys when they were done eating. "I thought angels couldn't get drunk."

"Apparently they can if they've had the entire liquor store." Sam explained to her, quoting Castiel's earlier words.

"He's gonna be fine, must've decided to celebrate his victory by getting drunk." Dean suggested.

"Dean." Sam held out a hand to block his brother as Dean stood up, "Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell us?" He asked him.

Dean exchanged a quick look with Jo, glanced at Ashley for a second before turning back to Sam. "Course not. Why would there be anything? If there was I'd definitely tell you Sammy. Now we'd better leave this work for tonight, its almost 1 am and we've all got a long say ahead of us; Cas just needs to sleep and by morning he'll be right as rain. Hmm… do angels get a hangover?" He asked himself as he changed the topic while leaving the den.

Ashley and Jo had told the boys that they would clean up before sleeping and headed for the kitchen. Sam decided to drop his curiosity about Castiel for now because he had caught his brother staring at Ashley for that one second and knew that there was definitely something that Dean wasn't saying because he didn't want to talk about it in front of her.

The four of them were soon fast asleep in their respective rooms, but Dean wasn't able to get sleep for very long; he had stayed awake long after he had heard Sam snoring and stared at the ceiling, wondering about how he would get Castiel to explain what had happened at Van Nuys. Dean had drifted off to sleep for a little bit at around 2 am, but woke up again. He checked his watch and saw that it was already 6 am; groaning softly he sat up and massaged his back before getting up. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep since he and Sam had to leave for Sioux Falls between at around 8 am. He decided to check on Castiel, still clueless about how and when he would find the time to talk to him.

Quietly slipping outside the room without waking Sam, Dean made his way across the carpeted corridor towards Castiel's room. He wasn't surprised to find that the door was slightly ajar, and stuck his head to make sure that his hunch was right. And sure enough, the room was empty. The angel was nowhere in sight; the bed hadn't been slept in, but somehow Dean knew that this time he hadn't vanished to find another liquor store again. He went downstairs past the hall and entered the den where he found a bright fire burning in the fireplace under the large marble mantelpiece. And sitting in front of the fire was Castiel. He looked up as Dean sat down on the sofa but didn't say anything; for an angel, he looked tired and… broken. About five minutes passed without Dean or Castiel saying anything, until finally one of them decided that the silence needed to be broken.

"We need to talk." Castiel said as he finally tore his gaze away from the fire.

"Didn't you say you wanted to leave it in the past?" Dean asked him; he knew that it was important for Castiel to want to open up, but he was not going to pressure the angel.

"It is never going to stay there. It is not over yet. You deserve to know the truth, I do not know all of it, but I will tell you everything I know." Castiel explained to Dean.

"Alright. So who was she?" Dean put the question out there, he needed to know more about this angel that Zachariah had mentioned.

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There we go! Hope this isn't too big of a cliffy! Definitely bigger than the previous one but smaller compared to the ones coming up soon! Reviews will be much appreciated and hopefully I'll be able to reply to them this time! ^_^


	28. Chapter 28

Thank god my PM started working again and I was able to see all my reviews! Thanks a lot to my reviewers **WhitneySheree, Navybee **for your comments and a big Thank You to my new reviewer** Iloveleopards200. **Welcome! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **Any discrepancies with an angel's/all angel's background and their abilities as shown on the show aren't really discrepancies because they are my idea's about angels.

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"Aurora," Castiel started to say, and even as he said her name, a tiny and almost invisible smile crept to his lips, "A warrior angel, just like I am. But a very powerful one, she was considered to be second best to Michael, even though she was not an Archangel. She excelled in sword-fighting; no one could defeat her when she took up the angel sword. Everyone believed that Michael had personally trained Aurora to be as powerful as an Archangel though we never understood why; some say it was because Michael saw that she was a special angel, different from the others…" His voice drifted off, and Dean knew that he shouldn't press this part too much.

"Why… why did what Zachariah say about her make you react like that?" Dean changed the topic, he thought he knew the answer to this, but he needed to be sure.

"I think you know the answer to that already…" Castiel said as if he had read Dean's thoughts. "I was in love with her." He noted the look of wonder written on Dean's face, "Yes I know it sounds surprising, but it is true. We angels understand the concept of love but in a different way than humans do. For you, love is to have as many partners as you'll wish, it is not a very serious thing for most people anymore, love. One can love many times and get over multiple heartbreaks and even the bond of marriage is not sacred any more, there are live-in relationships as you call it, divorces, love has become a game for a lot of humans." Castiel paused for a moment there, hesitant to go on.

Dean waited patiently, knowing that Castiel needed time. It wasn't the right moment to speak yet.

"To us, it means having one partner bound to you for eternity. Angels have one soul-mate, their one true love as you say. When we are mated, we are mated for all time, but once an angel's partner dies, the bond between them is severed and the angel lives on… alone and broken. That is where the saying 'till death do us part' comes from. We are never whole after that." Castiel finally explained.

"So… Aurora was your soul-mate?" Dean finally spoke; he was still trying to wrap his head around everything that he had heard.

"Yes. We were supposed to be bonded many years ago, but before it could happen…" Castiel's voice faltered and he turned back to the fire again.

"She died…" Dean completed the sentence softly, "Does that mean your bond with her is severed?" He figured that since they had not been officially bonded, it might not have broken.

"I don't know…" Castiel's voice was halting as he spoke again. "The day it happened, it was very mysterious and no one could make sense of what had happened. I remember that I was training with Uriel and several other angels when Sophia suddenly appeared carrying Aurora, she was bleeding but not healing. Sophia told me that she had found her by the fountain in the Garden and said that she was calling my name. I remember… I remember holding her in my arms… hoping that she would say what happened to her… but she only said my name with her last breath…" He broke off again.

For a tiny fraction of a split second, Dean thought that he had seen a tear in Castiel's eyes, but when he looked again, there was no sign that his eyes had even been watering. He knew that it was hard for Castiel to open up so much to anyone, he had always struggled with his emotions and his way of expressing them to others, and felt very humbled that the angel trusted him to listen to his tale.

"What no one could understand was what had injured her and why even after she died… it seemed that she did not completely die." Castiel had found his voice again.

"What you do mean she did not completely die?" Dean was confused now.

"The same thing that happens when humans die happens when an angel dies, their souls leave their bodies, so does their grace. You have seen it happen, the bright light of an angel's true form when they die. But Aurora… she did not expose her true form, there were no wings burnt around her, and yet, when I searched her I found no soul and no grace. They do not just vanish without showing any signs of leaving the body." Castiel explained.

Dean was equally puzzled as Castiel when he heard that; Aurora's death did sound quite mysterious and unlike the others that he had heard of and seen for himself. But to have lived on for so long without knowing the truth, Dean found himself in awe of his angel guardian; Castiel was much more strong in so many ways in which he was not and knowing that only increased his respect for him.

"What was she like? I mean apart from being powerful and everything?" Dean knew it was hard for Castiel to speak about his past but he also knew that the talking was helping the angel heal in a way.

"She was... beautiful. Not perfect like Sophia, but Aurora possessed an aura of simplicity and elegance that no other angel in the garrison matched up to her. She was kind, loving, gentle... funny. She and Balthazar were good allies, he was a very close friend to me as well and even though Sophia was her superior in every sense, they were always like sisters. The angels were never jealous or envious of her, we understand all human emotions in different ways, but it seemed that there was hate prevalent in some angels for why would anyone want to hurt her?" Castiel sounded so very alone then and Dean wasn't sure what he could do to help.

They sat in silence for a few moments; Dean knew that Aurora was truly a good angel and never for one second doubted Castiel's words which is why he did not question Zachariah's claims of Aurora being a traitor, he hadn't believed the angel then and not even after he was dead.

"So... is there anything else you want to add?" Dean broke the silence knowing that there was still something left unsaid.

"Yes. After I left yesterday, I did not immediately head for the liquor store. I went back to the university to try and speak to Sophia but someone from the office said that she had taken her students on a field trip. So I went to her house."

"Why did you do that?" Dean was perplexed.

"She had given me this," Castiel said as he removed the silver necklace with the key pendant from his pocket. "I wanted to find out what it opened. Sophia had told me to search her house."

"And did you? Find what the key opened?" Dean asked Castiel.

"Yes." He replied monotonously.

"Well…?" Dean sighed, he was going to have to work on Castiel's lack of elaboration skills.

In response to Dean's question, Castiel placed the necklace on the sofa between them and removed something from around his neck. It was a gold chain from which hung a tiny vial that was filled with a white smoke that had a bluish glowing light to it. He vividly remembered seeing a similar vial with Uriel last year.

"Is… isn't that… an angel's grace?" Dean's eyes grew wide as a dozen thoughts suddenly flooded his mind.

"It is." Castiel acknowledged as he let the chain hang over his shirt instead of hiding it.

"But how… who's… Aurora's?" Dean wasn't able to understand how that was possible, Castiel had told him that she had died in his arms, then who's grace was Castiel holding onto?

"I do not know." Castiel shuffled his feet as he looked down, uncertain of what to say; he had been more perplexed and confused when he had found the grace lying in Sophia's house.

"Can it be hers?" Dean couldn't think of anyone else whom the grace could belong to.

"It can be. As I said before, I did not find any signs of her power after she died, but for someone to have taken her grace would have meant that she had fallen from Heaven, which is impossible since she died there. One cannot simply rip another angel's grace out from their body either." Castiel gave Dean an idea of what he thought about this situation they had found themselves in.

"This is way too confusing. My head is spinning thinking about all of this. If that is Aurora's grace then doesn't that mean she's alive?" Dean didn't know if an angel's grace survived after they died.

"Technically yes because once an angel dies, everything that is a part of them dies as well. Their grace dissipates, it is not possible to store the grace of a dead angel." Castiel was being too technical all of a sudden, but Dean understood why he was doing that.

"Okay, but… Zachariah said that he was the one who killed Aurora and you were there when she died, so what is her grace doing down here? And how did it reach Sophia?" Dean asked the two questions that might have been able to shed some light on this sudden darkness and confusion if they had the answers.

"That is precisely what I would like to know." Castiel replied to Dean's questions, he was tired of finding more and more unanswerable questions and very few answers.

"And how does Ashley fit into all of this?" Dean finally brought up the one thing neither he or Castiel had dared to speak about until then.

Silence fell once more between the two of them; Dean wasn't sure if bringing up this next part would help Castiel because the possibilities seemed scarce. Castiel had been through so much already, but the one thing that Dean did know is that the angel had saved his life by giving him a new one and he would do everything that was humanly possible to help Castiel, even if it meant giving him a little bit of hope.

"Do you think that she… is she somehow Aurora? That's why Zachariah asked if you've seen Ashley's eyes. Did Aurora have eyes like Ashley's as well?" Dean finally asked Castiel, making his decision.

"I… I cannot say… the eye colors are similar, not identical." Castiel sighed. He hadn't seen Aurora's eyes when he looked into Ashley's similar pair.

"Is there a way you can be sure?" Dean was talking about finding a way to figure out if Ashley was Aurora. He needed to know if there was a chance of hope for Castiel, to regain what had been taken from him, to be whole once again.

"There is one way." Castiel answered after thinking for a moment. "When Angels come to Earth, regardless if we fall or not, our vessels always have an Enochian sigil with our name branded on them."

Before Dean could ask, Castiel had already answered his next question, "Yes there is a sigil with my name on it; it is on the right side of my back." He put his left hand to a spot near his right shoulder.

"Alright, and if you find the sigil on Ashley…" Dean started to say but Castiel interrupted him.

"She has been with us for almost three days now and no one has seen a sigil on her anywhere." Castiel seemed to be hesitant about the entire idea. He didn't know what he would do if he found the sigil branded on Ashley or if he didn't find it.

"Not if you haven't looked closely." Dean tried not to grin, this was a serious issue for Castiel and he knew that.

"What are you suggesting?" Castiel was confused, obviously not catching on to Dean's words.

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just saying that you should find a way to see if Ashley has a sigil branded on her… if she does and its Aurora's name then… we'll get to that when we get there." Dean himself wasn't sure what would happen then.

The situation there were in was not like the time when Anna had fallen and forgotten her identity, Aurora had seemingly died, so how could she have possessed Ashley? It was all too complicated and complex but that did not mean that there was no answer to their questions, they just needed to find a way to get them.

"And if she does not have the sigil on her?" Castiel didn't want to think about that, but nor was he willing to warm up to the idea that Aurora was alive and somehow possessing a human without knowing that she was an angel.

"Don't worry Cas, I'm positive she will. You've lost her once already, you won't lose her again." He had known that giving Castiel the idea wasn't going to be easy for the angel to accept, but hope was the biggest thing he could give the angel.

And now that they had been talking and having seen Aurora's grace and meeting Ashley who seemed so... normal that Dean would protect her with his life, it wasn't just a coincidence. Dean didn't know if what he had seen in Ashley's eyes was the same that Aurora had, but instead of giving Castiel the head's up, he decided to let the angel find all the answers he needed on his own.

"Thank you Dean." Castiel suddenly said, looking face to face with Dean properly for the first time since they had started talking.

"You're welcome." Dean replied smiling a little, he was glad that Castiel had changed over the past year and even though he still had his awkward moments and difficulties in understanding human's, Dean knew that Castiel was getting there.

"I am feeling lighter now, as if a great burden has lessened." Castiel said in his own uncertain way that made Dean wonder if he was asking a question or stating something.

"That's what happens when you talk it out with someone who you can trust no matter what." Dean told him.

"It is good to know that you were there to talk to Dean. You are a good ally and a trustworthy friend. Thank you." Castiel was definitely becoming an expert in human conversations.

"There's no need for that Cas, you know that I'll always be available for more heart-to-heart talks, just tell me when and where." Dean knew it was the right time to go ahead with the plan that had just formed in his mind. "For now, you're gonna have all the time you need to find the truth, after all its just gonna be you and Ashley." He said as he brought the talk back to their original topic of conversation.

"I don't understand what you mean?" Castiel was surprised, he was not expecting this.

"What I mean is that Sam and I are heading back to Sioux Falls soon, Ellen and Jo are helping us with the case because we have a lot of space to cover between Dakota and Illinois with little time, so they'll be leaving for Bloomington after breakfast and Rufus is meeting up with Bobby to talk to some friend of theirs, a Dr. Visyak, she's come down from Frisco to help with demon-proofing the house properly this time. That leaves you and Ashley all alone." He winked at the angel as he stood up.

As he reached the door, Dean turned around to face Castiel one last time who was staring at the dying embers of the fire.

"Oh and you should know that I told Ashley she could learn sword fighting and knife wielding from the best fighter we've got on the team - you." With that Dean left the room.

Castiel was still standing there, with a face filled of mixed emotions. Not only were he and Ashley soon going to be alone in the house, he was also supposed to train her how to be a hunter. In that moment Castiel made up his mind that he would help Ashley in any way he could, but most of all, he was determined to find out if she was Aurora once and for all, ending this complex mystery.

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**A/N: **So I was going to split the Dean/Cas conversation into two but I wanted Cas' entire story to be read in one go without having to wait for another day to know more. Its a lovely 3000 word chapter! My biggest ever chapter till date!

Hope this was good! Reviews are welcome as always! ^_^


	29. Chapter 29

A big thanks to my reviewers **ThursdaysChild97, WhitneySheree, Navybee **for your comments! And to my new reader **xxkissesandcuddlesxx**, welcome! And thanks for reviewing! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I own all the Cas and Ashley scenes!

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It was after 11 when Ashley woke up, she opened her eyes and found that the bed next to her was empty; Jo was used to waking up earlier than Ashley, who hadn't slept much yesterday, so she had decided to sleep in till late. She got up from her bed, and sliding her feet into a pair of slippers, she made her way downstairs. There was an unusual silence; she was still adjusting to the new world of the supernatural occurrences, so was a little unnerved by the apparent empty house. Where was everyone? There was no one in the hall, but just as she started to walk towards the den, she heard a tiny clinking noise from somewhere in the kitchen.

Hesitatingly, she made her way towards the kitchen door, her hand instinctively going to her back, where she had hidden Ruby's knife after Dean had told her never to go anywhere without it. Pushing the door carefully, Ashley breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was only the wind chime by the windows that was swaying in the breeze.

"Might as well have a cup of coffee first…" Ashley thought to herself and went to the counter where someone had left a kettle of coffee.

She poured a cup and heated it. Looking around, she felt pleasantly happy to be there. After everything that had happened in the past few days, Ashley thought that she would regret having agreed to the idea of staying with Dean and his family, but now, she felt calm, safe and… oddly enough, it was as if she were at home. Sipping her coffee, Ashley left the kitchen and made her way towards the den. If everyone had left suddenly, they were sure to have left a note somewhere. Her hand had just touched the door to the den when she heard the same whooshing noise she had heard last night and turned around to find Castiel standing not more than a few feet away from her.

"_Cas is known to be a little rusty on human behavior…" _Jo's voice echoed in Ashley's head. _"Sometimes he's known to invade all of our personal spaces, but don't mind him… he's still adjusting to human life."_ Clearly, Jo hadn't been joking; Ashley had to back up against the door to avoid Castiel from hearing her heart beat that had suddenly increased to an erratic speed.

"Good morning." He said to her, trying not to stare at her eyes for too long.

"Hi…" Ashley replied softly, holding onto her cup tightly as if such a tiny thing would shield her from his closeness.

Castiel did not seem to notice her slight discomfort with the few feet of space between them for he suddenly moved closer to her, so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. She closed her eyes for a second, only to feel the door behind her move. He had opened it for her; shaking her head, she went inside the den and felt Castiel follow in after her.

"Dean and the others have left already. They will return in a few days." Sometimes Castiel sounded as if he were a robot, repeating the words he had been told.

"Oh!" Ashley felt her heart drop for a second; she realized it meant that she and Castiel would be alone together for those few days, but then she instantly felt a certain happiness on hearing that. "Where have they gone?" She tried not to let her voice give away anything.

"Dean and Sam have gone back to work on the case, Jo and Ellen are helping them, they are in Bloomington and Bobby is working with Rufus to meet a Dr. Visyak to help him fortify his house so that we can return there soon." Castiel explained.

"Ah… I see." Ashley remembered Dean telling her that they needed her to stay back because she was still being targeted; but that she wouldn't be free all the time since he and Sam would be relying on her to help them with their research.

In the moment of silence that passed between the two of them, Ashley realized that there was something different about Castiel; it wasn't that there was no sign of him ever being drunk last night, it was something else. She thought about it for a second and then it hit her; it was right in front of her - Castiel seemed different because he had removed his long tan trench coat that he always wore as well as the black suit jacket he wore underneath. It made him look just like any other human dressed in a white shirt and black pants. This new look suited him. She also noticed that there was a lot of awkwardness in the air between them, and decided to calm things down a bit.

"So… umm… do angels eat food or drink?" She suddenly asked him as she sat down on the sofa opposite him.

Castiel looked up at her, wondering where the sudden interest had sprung from, "No, we do not need to eat or drink, but some of us are known to indulge ourselves once in a while. Human food does us no harm." He replied, thinking that Ashley was referring to last night when she had seen him drunk.

"Oh… okay…" She replied going back to her coffee.

"What are your plans for today?" Now this was a question that caught Ashley off guard, it was a direct and blunt question from him. She put down her cup and stared at Castiel.

"Umm… I was going to head over to the library, Dean asked me to find a few books to help them with the case… I'll be gone for a few hours." She answered him honestly, wondering where he was going to go with this.

"Yes, Dean mentioned that to me. I am going to meet Sophia at the university in one hour and shall return in the evening. I was asking because Dean also told me that you had asked him to learn how to fight?" That was there this was going.

Ashley remembered Dean telling her that Castiel was the best fighter and that it would be best if she learned how to defend herself from him.

"Yea… I don't really know how to use Ruby's knife properly, I thought if I learned a few basic moves I'd be able to protect myself if I ever need to." Ashley found herself feeling the calmness she had felt before fill in the space between them, getting rid of the awkwardness.

"I could teach you... how to use the knife, if you'd like…" Castiel had rehearsed the lines many times since his conversation with Dean a few hours ago, he had to come across a bit more human and less of an angel.

"Sure…" Ashley was a bit hesitant, but since she knew that they would be spending the next few days together, it would be good if she learned a thing or two about fighting.

"I will meet you in the evening then…" Castiel said as he stood up, Dean had forbidden him to constantly use his powers to teleport away whenever he liked.

"Umm... Okay…" Ashley too got up from her seat and watched as Castiel left the den with his feet instead of his wings.

Ashley then sat back down and let everything that had just transpired between her and Castiel settle around her. Luckily, her silly heart had slowed down and was back to a normal pace. After waiting for five minutes, she got up again and went out, knowing that he must have left by then. And surely enough, this time the house was really empty. She went back to her room to get ready, the library would been open already and Ashley couldn't wait to go so that she could come back home soon.

Within half an hour, Ashley had showered and eaten a little breakfast and was soon on her way to the nearest library. Sam had left a map of Georgetown on the desk in his room so she had taken it with her. The library turned out to be barely twenty minutes away and since the day was bright and sunny, Ashley thought that walking on the streets was the best idea. So she set off, walking towards the Town Library while taking in the beauty and peace of the normal world even if it was for a little time. She had forgotten how it felt; everyone around her went about doing their work, living a normal life without a clue about the real world that existed in the midst of theirs. About fifteen minutes later, Ashley found herself standing outside the library and reality set in; she remembered everything that had happened in these 3 days and knew that this was now her destiny, she belonged in Dean's world.

"Hello," A sweet voice called out to Ashley as soon as she entered the library, "May I help you?" The voice belonged to a middle-aged lady who stood up from her desk to greet her.

"Yes, I'm actually new in town, just visiting an aunt of mine..." Ashley explained, using the alibi that Dean and Sam had come up with in case they happened to need one. "And I was getting a bit bored around here because I left all my books back home, I was hoping to finish up my thesis before going back to college..." She was immediately cut off in mid-sentence by the lady.

"Oh! You're a student then dearie?" The lady seemed thrilled at the idea, "Come please come on in, I know normally since this is a public town library we don't need to provide personal assistance but we have a special way of doing everything we can to help any student in need."

"That's... umm, very kind of you ma'am." Ashley wasn't sure how to react when she heard what the woman had to say; Sam and Dean had told her to remain inconspicuous.

"Please, call me Martha... I'm not that old you know, just turned 45 last week!" The kind lady replied as she led Ashley through the library.

"Martha... I was wondering if you could umm... point me to the Latin section?" Ashley didn't really know how she was going to find the books she needed, but Latin seemed a more believable option than a book on demons and monsters.

"Right this way!" Martha exclaimed happily and loudly without any worry since the library happened to be oddly empty except of course Ashley who quietly trailed behind Martha.

While Ashley set about in helping Sam and Dean with their research, Castiel had returned to the University where he hoped to meet Sophia. He was going to confront her and try to get the truth about Aurora's death and Ashley's importance. Without paying attention to the noise of teenage humans around him, Castiel quietly walked inside the office building, hoping that he would get his chance to talk to Sophia before returning home, where he would see Ashley again. He still wasn't sure how she fit into the picture, but Dean's question about the possibility that Ashley could be Aurora had aroused his curiosity. After waiting for a few minutes, the lady in the office told him that Sara and her students were to return in two days time. Castiel thanked her and left, deciding to pay a visit to someone else in the meantime.

Several hours later in the evening, Ashley returned home with a few books tucked under her arm, she was juggling the heavy load in one arm and fumbling with the house keys when out of nowhere, a hand appeared and took the books from her hand. She looked up and saw Castiel standing next to her. She just stood there, staring at him wondering if it was just a coincidence that he happened to reach at the exact moment she did.

"Thanks…" She told him as she opened the door, walking inside first knowing that he would wait like a gentleman until then.

Instead of saying anything, Castiel simply gave her a tiny smile, one that surprised her; she couldn't recall seeing him smiling before, nor did she remember Jo mentioning any incident where any of them had seen a smile cross his lips ever.

"Did you finish your research?" He asked her casually as he placed the books on the coffee table in the hall.

"Most of it… Dean called twice, he said that they'll be staying back for three-four more days. They're still not too sure if there's a Changeling behind the kidnappings, so they're gonna wait till Ellen and Jo finish up here and then they'll meet the boys."

"I see. When do you want to start training? We can begin tomorrow if you are tired." Castiel was sounding much, much more human all of a sudden.

"Uh… no that's fine. I'm not too tired, I'll just go and change into something more comfortable." Ashley was a little bit puzzled about this drastic change in him.

She wondered what had happened in the afternoon, was this because he had met Sophia? But then Ashley remembered that Castiel could not be affected by the archangel's powers of love, but what if she had give him words of wisdom? Ashley shook her head at that thought, it was too far fetched. Going to her room, she changed into a black tank top and black leggings. Taking a quick look in the mirror to see if her lenses were still in place Ashley then headed back downstairs, not knowing that her world was soon going to be turned upside down.

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Ooooooo what's gonna happen next? Stay tuned to find out more! Please review! ^_^


	30. Chapter 30

5 reviews! Yay! A huge thank you from all my heart to my amazing readers for their awesome feedback! To **WhitneySheree, Bekyg620, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, Navybee **and my new reader** valeskathesilverwolf!**

**A/N: **The training is shorter than you all probably expected since its only one chapter long, but it should be interesting enough!

**Disclaimer: **I don't know a single thing about writing fighting scenes. Inspiration taken from Angel. ^_^

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The second her foot left the last step and touched the cool marble floor, there was no going back from what was about to come; Ashley was unaware of it, and casually made her way across the hall and to the den, where Castiel was waiting for her patiently. As soon as she entered the den, she noticed that the furniture had been shifted around a bit; the sofas and desks had been pushed against the walls, while a blue mattress was spread over the empty floor and there were half a dozen different knives and swords lying on the coffee table. Castiel had been standing with his back to Ashley, staring at the fireplace it seemed, but turned around the instant she entered; it seemed as if he felt her presence before she had even taken another breath. He too had decided to wear something more comfortable, for he had completely changed from his trademark outfit to one that was more human - a white turtle neck sweatshirt with black pants. Ashley's eyes grew wide for a second as she took in this new 'look' of Castiel's, but he seemed not to notice anything.

"Before we start training, there is only one thing you must remember - a hunter must always have a weapon on him. Do not lose your weapon, if you do then you should have another one." Castiel explained as he arranged the weapons on the table; his own angel sword amongst the others. "Do you have Ruby's knife with you?" He asked Ashley, glancing up at her for a moment.

"Yea, here it is…" She removed it from behind her back where it had been tucked into the waistband of her leggings; she handed the knife over to Castiel and quickly pulled down her top.

"Good. The first thing about fighting is defense, hunter's are always fast and agile; do not let a demon get the upper-hand during a fight. We will first practice with something a little bigger than this knife," He placed Ruby's knife and picked up a normal looking, longer dagger and handed it over to Ashley and took a similar one for himself.

"This thing is pretty light…" Ashley commented as she twirled the dagger in her hands, getting used to the feel of it.

"Yes, the lighter the knife, the easier it is to wield and it kills swiftly. Are you ready?" He formed a fighting stance and Ashley copied him, holding the dagger in her right hand at shoulder level.

"I'm ready." She said, determined to get this right.

"Instead of learning how to defend yourself, it is important for you to learn some attack moves first." Castiel explained as he left his position and walked over to where Ashley was standing.

He moved her hands slightly to make them more lose, told her to shift her feet a bit and then gently grasped her right arm that held the dagger. Ashley's breath nearly got caught in her throat but she managed to let it escape without alerting Castiel's attention; her back was so close to his chest that she could feel his heartbeat; shutting her eyes for a second, she tried to shake off the weird feeling that was rising in her stomach.

"Here, try to imitate the attacks I show you." Castiel suddenly distanced himself away from Ashley and took up his dagger.

For the next few minutes, Castiel demonstrated some of the basic attacks in sword-fighting, lashing out at thin air. Ashley managed to copy all of the moves perfectly and 15 minutes later, she was ready for the next step.

"More than offense, it is defense that is very important in a fight, you must be able to block all attacks from any opponent, be it a demon or an angel." He told her.

"An angel? Do you think I'll have to fight angels as well?" Ashley was a bit unnerved to hear that.

"You must be prepared to fight anything. It does not matter who or what is attacking you, as long as you are capable of protecting yourself." Castiel's voice took on a slightly cold tone as he spoke.

"Alright." Ashley agreed as she prepared to learn how to defend herself in a fight.

"I will attack you first, try and block the blow… keep your eyes fixed on my movements at all times." He gave her the instructions for the first part.

Ashley nodded. She watched as Castiel raised his hand and swung out attempting to strike near her right shoulder; in one quick move, she swung out and parried his blow, with her dagger clashing into his mid-air. It had happened so fast that he was caught off-guard for a second and nearly lost his grip on the dagger.

"Wow… I just… that felt, it felt like I've always done this…" Ashley murmured softly to herself as she lowered the dagger, not realizing that it was loud enough for Castiel to hear.

He remembered Aurora then, and how she had been the best angel in sword-fighting. The ease with which she held her sword and how swiftly she fought with it, the other angel's felt as if the sword was always a part of her - in one move, she would have the others disarmed and pinned down. Snapping back to reality, he moved back to his original position.

"That was perfect. Now let us see if you can block attacks from different angles, demons can also attack from behind, so it is important to know how to attack them from under your free hand." He demonstrated the next few moves without using the dagger before taking it up once more and attacking Ashley.

She managed to successfully block all his blows, parrying them with no difficulty at all. And had also managed to shield the upward thrust towards her neck, a clever trick, Castiel explained, that demons used thinking that humans would find difficult to block. An hour later, they both had laid down their respective daggers and took a break.

"This is going better than I expected!" Ashley was beaming happily, "It's a relief that I know a bit about fighting now…" She picked up a water bottle and started to drink.

She was watching Castiel just stand there, looking as if he hadn't lost a bit of his energy yet.

"I believe you know more than just a bit of fighting." Castiel commented as he fingered his angel sword, "I think we should directly move onto fighting with the actual weapons."

He picked up the angel sword and threw it across to Ashley who just managed to catch it, surprised she raised an eyebrow at him. "Why do I have the angel sword?" She asked him, not understanding why they didn't use Ruby's knife.

"Because that is going to be your second weapon if you lose the knife." Castiel calmly explained, he was going to try and see if his plan would work.

"But isn't this yours?" Ashley was confused now. There was something fishy going on, but she couldn't figure out what it exactly was.

"That angel sword is a spare one, I have mine with me." He told her as he removed his original sword from behind him. "It is a tough sword to handle and you must know how to handle every weapon."

He was smiling again, unbeknownst to Ashley that he was reliving an old memory of his; one where he and Aurora had fought against each other during a training session in Heaven. She had defeated him easily, but Castiel had seen that defeat as a victory of sorts because that was the day he had found out from Balthazar, that Aurora was his destined mate. His plan now was to see if Ashley was as good with the angel sword as she was when using a normal weapon - as good as Aurora had been.

"Okay…" Ashley was a little nervous now, the angel sword was different from the other weapons, there was a part of her that felt slightly odd holding it in her hands, while another part of her felt that the angel sword would prove to be a better weapon for her than Ruby's knife.

This time, Castiel also changed his fighting moves, instead of practicing with one attack at a time, he would try attacking Ashley with multiple blows consecutively to see how fast she was. The two of them stood opposite each other, holding onto their respective angel swords, ready to fight. Castiel was quicker this time, as he moved faster than before, closing the distance between him and Ashley within seconds and immediately striking out that Ashley nearly lost her grip on the sword but managed to block his attack at the last second.

She braced herself for the next attacks, managing to easily dodge three of them. But the last attack took her completely by surprise and caught her off-guard; Castiel had swung out, trying to thrust his sword upwards near her face, expecting her to raise her sword at an angle and block it with her wrist, which somehow she did manage to do, but it was a bit too late, as their swords met with a bit of force; Ashley stumbled backwards and almost fell but Castiel was quicker, he immediately reached out and caught her by the waist while grabbing a hold of her hand with his free one and pulled her upright to steady them both.

"Thanks…" Ashley mumbled as she caught her breath, not realizing that his hand was around her waist.

But Castiel didn't say anything. He was vaguely aware that he held Ashley's hand in his; his entire focus was on something else. He was staring outside the window, frowning hard at something. At first Ashley didn't notice anything, but when she saw that he wasn't speaking anymore, she turned around, freeing her hand from his and looked outside the window too. Her sudden movement alerted Castiel and brought him out of his thoughts; he was about to say something that shocked him when he saw Ashley standing a few feet away from him with her back to him. Her top had gotten scrunched up when he had held her by the waist and there was a tiny bit of skin visible, but that was not what made Castiel freeze. It was the familiar black ink that was clearly visible; a tattoo on her lower back near her waist, with symbols, Enochian symbols.

"Uh… Castiel…" Ashley's voice suddenly drifted through to him, she had turned around looking worried.

"Is everything okay?" Castiel hadn't seen her look so scared since the night he had saved her from the hellhounds.

Before Ashley could say anything else, Castiel saw what she had seen; there was movement near the window, someone was outside the house. And whoever knew about the house, knew that they were inside for just then, a red beam of light shone inside, focusing as a red dot on Ashley - a laser beam. Without saying anything, Castiel grabbed Ashley's arm and pulled her down to the floor, hiding her from whatever was targeting her with an armed weapon.

"Wha…" Ashley tried to say as she fell to the soft mattress with Castiel on top of her.

"Stay quiet." He wasn't paying attention to her, but was looking to see if the intruder was making a move.

Castiel suddenly felt something poke his arm and saw a tiny plastic spherical object lying on the mattress next to him. It was Ashley's lenses. He looked down at her, and saw that she had squeezed her eyes shut and was breathing unevenly, trying to calm herself down. He just lay there on the mattress staring at her; they were barely centimeters apart now, he knew that she could feel his breath on her face, but she wasn't opening her eyes. He broke his gaze from her and looked at the lenses lying a few feet away from them and then turned to her again. If she had lenses on all this time, it meant that right now, her real eyes were exposed. All he had to do was get them to open.

Minutes passed by silently, with the only sound coming from Ashley and Castiel breathing slowly. There was no noise, no laser, no movement from outside so far. Taking a chance, Castiel lifted one hand and without hesitating for even a split second, reached out and slowly brushed a strand of hair that had fallen over Ashley's face when he had pulled her down. Feeling his hand caress her skin so lightly, she gasped and opened her eyes wide in surprise. Castiel's bright blue eyes met hers and for the first time, he saw the pair of eyes that he had closed himself all those years ago. The shining sea blue irises with a circle of lavender in the center had been the one thing that had attracted him to Aurora. And now, those very same eyes, Ashley's eyes, were staring at him.

_The perfect sword-fighting skills, the Enochian tattoo, the same shade of blue and purple eyes… _

"Aurora…" Castiel whispered out loud.

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So ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Reviews? ^_^


	31. Chapter 31

OMG! 6 reviews!And all of them so so kind and inspiring and lovely! I really thank you all from the bottom and top of my heart! The story is entirely dedicated to my amazing readers for their awesome feedback! ^_^

To: **WhitneySheree, Bekyg620, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, Navybee, valeskathesilverwolf **and my new reader **JoyceeLuna! **

**Disclaimer: **I may own nothing of SPN but I'm proud to be a part of the fandom and I own your lovely comments... lolz!

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As soon as the name left his mouth Castiel saw the effect it had on Ashley; something in her seemed to break, he saw pain fill her eyes but no tears came. He was confused but before either of them could say anything, there was a loud noise. Something was ringing very loudly. Castiel tore his gaze away from Ashley who had shut her eyes again and found the source of the noise, it was that complicated cell phone that Dean had left behind for him in case of an emergency, which would probably be the landlines getting tapped. He stood up quickly, causing Ashley to open her eyes once more, she took his outstretched hand and got to her feet but stayed silent.

"My phone is over there. You answer it. I will go and find out what just happened. Do not tell anyone about the laser." Castiel ordered her as he cautiously made his way towards the window.

Ashley nodded quietly to herself and went to answer the phone. But when she picked it up, the call suddenly got cut; frowning slightly she checked the number, it was an unknown number. She tried calling back, but no one picked up. Suddenly, Castiel was standing right beside her; she flinched a bit when she noticed their close proximity and remembered how he had just called her Aurora, she didn't want to focus on that at the moment, so Ashley calmed herself and turned to face him.

"Who was it?" He questioned, trying not to stare into those eyes of hers, which was proving harder than he thought since Ashley hadn't put her lenses back yet.

"I don't know, the call got disconnected when I picked up, I tried calling back but no answer. Its some unknown number." Ashley explained as she handed him his cell phone and went to pick up the lenses from the floor and slipped them back into her eyes.

Clearly this bothered Castiel a lot. First there was the sudden appearance of a laser right outside their safe house and now there was this mysterious phone call. He wondered if the two were connected in some way, but decided to worry about that later, there was something more important that had to be taken care of, Ashley.

Castiel looked up to find Ashley picking up the weapons from the table and carrying them over to the weapons cabinet to store them. He wondered for a moment about what he thought he had seen in her eyes when he had called her Aurora. He was sure it wasn't happiness, which proved his theory that if Ashley was indeed really Aurora then she had no idea about it, but if she wasn't aware of being possessed by an angel nor had she fallen from heaven then how was it that Aurora was alive?

*click*

The sudden noise of something being turned alerted both of them. Quickly and quietly, Castiel had rushed over to Ashley and covered her mouth with his hand, he signaled for her to be still, to which she simply blinked, unable to think clearly. They both stood there without moving an inch, Ashley could feel her heart battering against her chest. A minute later, they heard the house door open and close very gently as if someone was sneaking in. Ashley was panicking now, she didn't get why Castiel didn't just teleport them out of the house. All of a sudden, there was a whooshing noise and a man dressed in a grey v-neck t-shirt, jeans and a long black jacket appeared out of nowhere.

"Cas! Thank god you're still here! And you have the girl with you I see." The man exclaimed with a sigh of relief as he suddenly started to head towards the windows shutting and bolting them shut. Whoever he was seemed to be in a hurry to accomplish something.

"Balthazar!" Castiel addressed his former ally, "Why are you here?" He asked the angel looking perfectly perplexed. He hadn't expected to meet Balthazar.

"As if you didn't know. Don't tell me that…" Balthazar suddenly stopped what he was doing, going through the drawers looking for something.

Castiel's friend looked at him and noting the expression Castiel had, Balthazar sighed as he realized that he really didn't know what was going on.

"I can't tell you everything in detail, we don't have much time. We gotta get out of here soon, its not safe here anymore." Balthazar left the den and went to the hall, continuing his search.

"No one is leaving this house until you tell me what it is you are doing here, what you are looking for and why you believe that this safe house is not _safe _anymore." Castiel held out a hand, placing it on Balthazar's chest, blocking him from going anywhere.

For a moment, the two angel's seemed to have forgotten that Ashley was still present. She had quietly slipped away to a corner, and now was quietly watching Castiel and Balthazar's interaction. There was a problem, a big one, but what?

"Fine, you want it your way Cas? I'll tell you everything. Raphael wants the girl no matter what it takes, and now that Dean Winchester tricked Michael, it looks like both brothers are out for blood. They've sent an assassin to kill her, but there is one place that is safe enough for her, safer than she is here at least." Balthazar explained, dropping his voice to a soft whisper.

"Michael would never turn against the truth," Castiel started to say, "Does he not remember what he did for Aurora?" His voice had become too soft for Ashley to listen anymore, "He trained her to be the second most powerful angel in all heaven, and if there was someone who could kill…" He suddenly stopped himself as realization dawned on him.

"Ah, I see you've finally got it Cas…" Balthazar nodded his head, "Aurora was the only one apart from Michael who could kill Lucifer, but that is only if Michael himself were unable to do it. If Mikey thinks he has a chance at fighting Lucifer and sending him back to hell, he's gonna take that chance, even if it means getting rid of Aurora, because she won't let him do it. She won't let Dean Winchester kill himself." The way he spoke, Castiel felt as if Balthazar had known about the truth all this time.

"Who told you this? How do you know about Aurora? Or anything about Ashley?" Castiel was getting angry, Sophia already seemed to have been involved in Ashley's birth somehow, and now Balthazar was talking as if Aurora was the one being protected not Ashley.

"Relax, I just found out everything from Sophia. She was the one who sent me here, said that her house is the safest right now, its as good as a fortress, somehow she's managed to make it impenetrable, so that no angel or demon can set foot inside. The girl will be safe there. We have to go now! Before the assassin reaches you; no one knows that Sophia's here in Illinois, the other angels think she's in Paris or something, spreading her love." His tone sounded a bit amazed, "I'm surprised at how she's hidden herself from heaven."

"Sophia is clever and powerful. If anyone is capable of cutting off all connections to heaven then there is no one better than she is. Come, we must go now." Castiel turned to Ashley who had been seeing the two talk, but hadn't heard most of the conversation.

"We're leaving?" She asked him, looking surprised, this was something unexpected; then again maybe it shouldn't have surprised her seeing as they were all on the run from Heaven and Hell. No place was safe for very long.

"Yes. Its not safe for you here anymore, we're going to Sophia's house. With her protection around you, it is going to be very hard for anyone to locate you." He tried to sound reassuring despite the fact that this new development definitely affected him a lot.

"Do Dean and Sam know about this?" Ashley suddenly turned to Balthazar, who turned a little pale at that.

"No, they don't. But don't worry, I'm going to pick up your friends and the Harvelle ladies and bring them back to Sophia's house as well. I shall explain myself when we meet again." With that, Balthazar vanished, leaving Castiel and Ashley alone once more.

"Are you ready?" Castiel noticed that Ashley was afraid again. He wasn't going to say anything about what had happened before when they had been training. Not yet at least. His main priority was getting her to Sophia's house and then maybe he would mention something. Shaking his confused feelings aside, he held out a hand to Ashley, noticing her hesitance.

"Yes. I'm ready." She replied softly.

It seemed that they couldn't last a day without having someone chase them. First it was the hellhounds that attacked her outside the library, then Alistair and his posse of demons attacked Bobby's house and now there was an assassin angel after her. But Ashley wasn't going to let any of her emotions show, she placed her hand in his outstretched palm. There was one thing she was sure of, no matter what, Ashley knew she could trust Castiel.

Within a second, they were out of the old, stuffy safe house and inside a huge marble palatial villa-like bungalow. It was dark everywhere inside the house, and Castiel decided it was best if they stayed in the darkness; the house was supposed to be empty for another two days.

"Balthazar should be here any minute…." Castiel stated as he began to examine the charms that protected the house, there were a lot of Enochian sigils among other things at work here.

As if on cue, Balthazar suddenly reappeared with Ellen and Jo looking upset and confused. They didn't know about Balthazar and it was almost as if they had to be dragged here.

"What's going on Cas?" Ellen got straight to the point. "Who is this guy? He says he's a friend of yours." She definitely did not believe Balthazar.

"There's an assassin angel who is after Ashley now, Balthazar is my friend, a warrior angel like me. He believes that we all be safer here in Sophia's house. It is well protected." Castiel told her.

"What about Dean and Sam? Don't you think we should let them know we're here?" Ellen asked him, wondering why no one was mentioning Sam or Dean.

Castiel turned to Balthazar who held his hands up, "They're fine. I don't know where they are exactly, but then again no one does... since you've branded them with those Enochian sigils they're nowhere under angel radar... but I guarantee you that they definitely are safe." It was a rushed explanation, but it made sense since there was no way anyone could detect their presence.

"I don't think that's proof enough that the boys are safe..." Ellen started to say, "They usually call us every two hours to check in with us... its almost five hours since Dean called..." Her voice was shaking now.

"Five hours ago?" Ashley suddenly spoke up, "Sam called me while I was on my way home from the library... its not been 5 hours since then has it?" She and the others seemed to have lost track of time.

"No..." Jo whispered as she fell down on a plush sofa, "I'm sure they got caught up in fighting of the changeling and forgot to call..." She was really distressed now, and was getting worried for Dean and Sam.

"Do not worry, Jo..." Castiel's soft, calming voice broke through the sudden silence that had fallen around them. "I will go and find them and Changeling or not, it is very important that we all stay together. Whoever this assassin is has been sent by Raphael and he will find a way to track them down." He turned to Balthazar who immediately understood.

"Relax Cas, I'm not going anywhere. There's no way that I'm gonna leave these ladies here all alone, no assassin angel or demon will break through." He reassured his old friend. "Even though I'm supposed to be dead and all, I'm gonna stick around for a little while longer. Till Sophia gets back at least." Balthazar added.

"What about Bobby?" Ellen asked Castiel, "Shouldn't we get him here too?" They all had been scattered about at a time when they needed to have stuck close to each other.

"I will bring him back with me as well." Castiel told Ellen before he left.

For a few minutes, no one spoke. Ellen, Jo and Ashley had sat down in the hall and stared into the darkness while Balthazar double checked the protection charms on the house and went to stand on look-out for any signs of approaching danger. The three of them just waited in silence, not knowing what else to do. Each of them had one thing on their mind, they were all hoping that Sam and Dean were safe and unharmed.

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**A/N: **Okay Cas and Ashley will have a "talk" soon, either tomorrow's chap may be a little small and the talk will be in the chap after that... or if its not small tomorrow then it'll be because you'll get the Cashley (?) scene! ^_^

Reviews anyone?


	32. Chapter 32

Woohoo! So many reviews! Yay! Me sooooo happy... big hugs and kisses to everyone! Thanks **WhitneySheree, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, Navybee, ThursdaysChild97, ****valeskathesilverwolf and JoyceeLunaa!**

**A/N: **For the delay, you all get a really really REALLY LONG chapter and a lovely Cashley scene! Hope you all like it! ^_^

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It was only half an hour later did Castiel suddenly reappear inside the hall again with Dean and Sam, though it had felt like an eternity to the women. As soon as it was clear that neither brother was hurt, Jo jumped up from her seat and ran over to hug Dean first before she turned to hug Sam. Ashley too was relieved when she saw them and was glad that they were all together now. Only Bobby remained to be found and brought back to the house.

"We're alright Jo," Dean said to her as he slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. "I'm sorry for not calling you back, our phones sorta got burned while we were fighting off the changeling and we were busy packing a few things from Bobby's house when Cas suddenly dropped in as always." He explained to her, and to Ellen and Ashley as well.

"Its a good thing he did, Dean." Sam cut in, "If what Balthazar has said is true, then an angel assassin isn't someone we're prepared to go up against."

"Yea, well what else are we gonna do Sammy?" Dean started, "We can't just sit around here waiting forever till this ninja angel finds us... I say, we take the fight to him."

"Dean!" Jo exclaimed in surprise as she heard his words, "You can't be serious about this, we're safe from anything and anyone in this house, if we leave then we'll get killed." She wasn't too taken aback by his words because they were not completely unexpected.

"Jo is right Dean." Castiel replied, "We do not need to stay here forever. Sophia is returning in two days and when she does, we will find a way to get rid of the assassin." His number one priority now was to keep everyone in this house safe.

"And then what?" Dean sounded irritated now, "What do we do after that Cas? Lucifer's already raised his horsemen, we've got War's ring, Famine's and Pestilence's, the only one left is Death. And since we don't know where he is, we can't really find, kill and take the ring from him. Not to mention that neither Sam nor me are really willing to become meat suits for Lucifer and Michael, so how do you expect us to get through this entire thing?" Dean sounded exasperated.

"Sophia has all the answers." Was all Castiel said, he couldn't afford to let the others know about Aurora. Not yet. Not until she was aware of her identity first.

Dean fell silent at that, he knew that Castiel must have either found out the truth about Ashley or had found nothing and there was just a coincidence that she seemed to be similar to Castiel's dead lover.

"Well that's settled then." Ellen announced as she stood up, taking charge. "It's been a long day for all of us, we should get some rest and see what to do tomorrow morning." She had stored everyone's weapons in a nearby cabinet by the kitchen and had already seen to it that they all found a place to sleep.

"That's a good idea." Sam stated as he started to get up too, "But what about someone keeping a watch..." He was stopped mid-way in his sentence by Castiel.

"Balthazar is keeping watch outside the house, I will stay in here." He said to Sam.

"Alright, well let's go get us some sleep then." Dean said as he led Ashley and Jo upstairs towards one of Sophia's many bedrooms. But on the last step, he turned back to Castiel who was watching him. The two exchanged a look before Dean continued on.

"Where's Bobby?" Sam suddenly asked, realizing that he was still not here.

"He's on his way. Said traveling via angel teleportation is not his cup of tea and he will make sure not to alert the assassin where we are hiding." Castiel answered, quoting Bobby's reply to his phone call that he had placed earlier.

Ellen and Sam tried to hide their grins as they too headed to sleep. Castiel was getting a bit better at adjusting, but didn't voice their thoughts to him.

Once they were gone, Castiel left the hall to speak to Balthazar, when he returned ten minutes later, he saw Dean coming down the staircase, with an expression on his face that Castiel couldn't decipher its meaning.

"I just left the girls in their room..." He said to the angel as he sat back down. "And do you know what happened when Ashley turned her back to me?" It wasn't supposed to be a rhetoric question though it sounded like one.

"You saw the tattoo." Castiel finished the sentence before Dean could say anything else. He too sat down opposite him and stared into nothingness.

"I saw the tattoo." Dean repeated, as if he needed to say it again to make it real. "What now?" He asked.

"We wait." Castiel replied, not meeting Dean's gaze. "It won't help if we tell Ashley that she is really an angel, she will not believe us." He shook his head as he still tried to wrap his head around the facts. "She's alive..." His voice was a soft whisper now, "All these years... 28 years... I thought that she had died..." Castiel seemed to have forgotten that Dean was sitting next to him.

"I know its hard Cas..." Dean finally spoke up, "But the important thing is that she's alive, and she's not going anywhere this time."

At that, Castiel did something very human-like, which was very un-angelic of him and it surprised Dean; he sighed and took a deep breath before turning to face Dean.

"Aurora is a very powerful angel, second best to Michael himself. If there is someone else who can defeat Lucifer... it is her." The words that he had been dreading to accept were finally out.

It suddenly hit Dean that there was only two ways out of this mess. He realized that it was down to him or Ashley... Aurora... to fight Lucifer and end the apocalypse once and for all; he finally knew why Ashley was the key to this, she was the alternative to him. What he didn't get was what would come of her by being captured by Angels or Demons?

"She will never let you do it." Castiel answered before Dean had even asked him anything. "She is no longer a young helpless girl that we saved from hellhounds; she's a warrior angel, a soldier of good and she will do anything in her power to stop you and Sam from killing each other if it comes down to that."

"Yea well I'd like to see her try that." Dean scoffed, not believing Castiel, there was no way he was going to allow Ashley... Aurora, whoever she was to fight Lucifer when there was a chance that she might not survive it. She had already died once, and he wasn't going to let her die again.

"Be my guest..." Castiel knew exactly what Dean was thinking about, but what Dean didn't know was how stubborn Aurora could be when she wanted something done her way; Dean did not know the things that she would do if he tried to stop her.

"She doesn't even know who she is Cas!" Dean raised another point. "How is she gonna fight Lucifer if she doesn't remember that she's Aurora, not Ashley?"

"That is where Sophia is important. She will know a way to restore Ashley's memories and once she does, we all will learn what really happened that day and how she survived after dying." Castiel fell silent.

It was only then did Dean actually realize how hard it was for the angel to deal with. He had lost his soul-mate so very long ago and it had left him broken to a certain extent, but to suddenly find her, alive and human with no memory of being Aurora was also not something that you just took in with a pinch of salt. Dean knew that Castiel had so many questions that only Aurora could answer.

He didn't know what lay ahead in the future for either of them all, but what he was sure of was that until her memories came back, Ashley was still Ashley, not Aurora and they would have to treat her that way.

"When do we tell the others?" Dean suddenly asked Castiel.

"We don't." Castiel replied bluntly. "Not until the very end... no one can know about this, we cannot let Ashley find out about the truth before her memories return. It might strengthen the wall that is already blocking everything."

"Alright, so we wait for Sophia to return. Till then, we should probably stay indoors and let her practice her training with you." Dean said as he stood up to leave. It was getting late now.

"No." Castiel's rejection was so soft that Dean thought he had imagined it. "I will not be able to train Ashley anymore..." His voice faltered before he could say anything.

"I get it, don't worry Cas, me and Sam will take over." Dean stifled a yawn. "Night." He stumbled over to the staircase and headed to sleep.

Castiel was left alone in the dark hall then, surrounded by nothingness. There was silence all around, save for the sound of his own breathing. He stayed there sitting on a sofa in he hall without moving at all. After a while, he put a hand to his neck and pulled the gold chain from within and stared at the tiny vial that spun around in his fingers. Aurora's grace. It wouldn't bring back her memories but it would restore her powers. For the rest of the night, he stayed there, keeping a watch for any disturbances while continuously staring at the source of Aurora's powers in his hands. He would bring her back to life, back to him, back as his one true love, his soul-mate.

It was a little while after sunrise when Castiel's trance was broken; he heard one of the room doors close as someone woke up. He tucked the chain that held Aurora's grace under his shirt just as Ashley came downstairs dressed in the same clothes she had worn last night during their training. Castiel remembered that even though Ashley could possibly be Aurora, he couldn't do anything until she got her memories back. And until then, Ashley was still a human girl. Nothing else. He saw her gaze fall on him and for a moment was a bit surprised but then she shook it off and headed towards him.

"Good morning." He said to her as she sat down on the sofa across from him.

"Hi," She replied softly, "Is anyone else awake yet?" She asked him, not looking up into his eyes.

"No. The others are still asleep and Balthazar is still standing guard outside." Castiel answered, sitting back down.

"Great." Ashley mumbled, "I haven't been able to get much sleep since the past few days, I guess that's what happens when your entire mind and body are on constant alert for any signs of danger..." Castiel wasn't sure if Ashley was talking to him or to herself, but he patiently listened to her.

When he didn't say anything, Ashley realized that she had been rambling on for the last few minutes about herself and suddenly felt very self-conscious. She stopped talking and rubbed her arms even though it wasn't too cold inside the house. Castiel noticed this and did the one thing anyone would do. He stood up and removing his trench coat, walked over to Ashley and covered her bare shoulders with it. She looked up at him then, meeting his eyes at last and for a second, her breath was hitched.

"Thanks..." She whispered, trying to find her voice again. Why did it always have to be so hard to speak coherently whenever she was around the angel?

"You're welcome. Are you okay? You seem a little distracted." He asked her, sitting down on the sofa next to her.

Ashley's head snapped up as soon as she heard his words; where was he going with this she wondered to herself.

"Uhh... yea, I'm fine... are you okay? I mean... you've been awake all night." She was still a little nervous around Castiel but after last night's events, Ashley was adamant to get some answers.

"I am an angel, it is in our nature not to sleep. Balthazar has been on guard outside the house as well." Castiel replied with a smile.

"Right." Ashley realized she had known this already and mentally smacked herself for asking such a silly question, but just then she remembered something else. "How was it?" She suddenly asked him.

"How was what?" Brows furrowed, Castiel was confused hearing Ashley's abrupt question, he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Being a human, for a little while... when you lost your powers..." She elaborated softly, not sure if he was ready to talk about that experience.

For a moment, there was silence all around them, but neither Ashley nor Castiel felt any tension between them, instead there was a level of comfort in the air.

"It was... a life-changing experience." Castiel said, finally replying to Ashley's question and breaking the silence. "I learned a lot of things even though I was powerless for a little while and at the beginning, believed that I was helpless. But it changed after I realized that it was not going to kill me by not having powers. I do need them but I found out that I can also survive without them." He finished.

His words left Ashley wide-eyed as she listened to him. It wasn't surprising to hear him say that, but it did leave Ashley with seeing a new side to the angel and it left her in awe of him. Castiel noticed that his words seemed to have had an effect on Ashley but since he had finally got her to speak up, he decided that he needed to talk to her about last night.

"Ashley... about last night..." He started to say, hoping that his choice of words was right.

"I know," She cut in suddenly, "I forgot to thank you for saving my life again." Ashley knew that this was not what Castiel was trying to tell her, but she wasn't ready to know about Aurora just yet.

"You do not need to thank me, I was only doing what I needed to do, keep you safe. You are in danger right now and we all are going to protect you." Castiel didn't realize that Ashley had purposely changed the topic.

She gave a weak smile after that, not knowing what else to say. The nagging voice in her head was telling her to ask him about Aurora even though she had just decided to let it go. Before she knew it, the words were out of her mouth.

"Who's Aurora?" Hearing herself speak those words caused her to gasp in surprise, she hadn't meant for it to be so direct and sudden.

Ashley regretted saying anything because sitting there, she saw that Castiel's posture had stiffened up and there was a look of pain and anguish on his face. She truly felt bad for bringing it up and yelled in her mind at the stupid voice that she had made a huge mistake. And now, she wanted to fix it. Without hesitation and thinking again, Ashley immediately reached forward and slowly took a hold of his hands in hers which caused him to look at her with shock.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean for it to come out that way... I just..." But before she could complete her sentence, she found her lips covered by his fingers.

"Don't." Castiel said as he continued to keep his hand over her mouth, "You have no need to apologize."

Ashley couldn't really say anything after that. The moment she felt his hands on her mouth, she felt her heart stop and her breathing quickened. They both were close to each other right now, close enough for him to feel her breath on his face and for her to lose herself staring into his bright blue eyes. But she never got a chance to reply because as soon as Castiel had spoken, the french doors of the house suddenly were thrown open and Balthazar walked in, looking happy and cheerful.

"Good news Cas!" He exclaimed, "We got through the night without a single disturbance." He announced and then stopped himself when he saw Castiel and Ashley nearly close enough to be in a compromising position.

"Sorry about that! I'll let myself out..." Balthazar's smirk grew as he began to back away towards the exit.

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**Well? Well? ^_^**


	33. Chapter 33

I can't believe that I actually have written something that has gotten over 100 reviews! Wow... it feels... amazing! I am so happy right now and honestly, I couldn't have made it so far without all my reviewers and my two close friends Hannah and Jezzi who have continued to motivate me to write even though they're not on here.

A big, huge, gigantic Thanks to my reviewers: **WhitneySheree, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, Navybee, Bekyg620, ****valeskathesilverwolf, JoyceeLunaa **and to my new reader **were-girl19**! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **This fanfiction is owned not only by me but to everyone involved in this! ^_^

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But Balthazar's unexpected announcement had snapped Castiel and Ashley out of their trance. She quickly pulled back and tried to sink as far behind into her sofa as she could, blushing profusely while Castiel stood up with a jump.

"No, stay Balthazar. We were... only talking..." He told his friend, sounding a little uncertain of his own words.

"Are you sure?" Balthazar asked Castiel, winking at him. "Cause I can leave and let you two get back to... _only talking_." He was trying not to laugh at the situation that was unfolding in front of Castiel and Ashley who were pleasantly unaware of it all.

"Its fine." Castiel repeated, gesturing for the other angel to join him and Ashley.

With a shrug, Balthazar walked over to them and on closer inspection, saw Ashley sitting there with Castiel's trench coat around her. Balthazar raised an eyebrow but let it drop without saying anything.

"Good morning! I don't believe we've officially met," Balthazar bowed to Ashley, "I am Balthazar, Castiel's best friend and angel ally extraordinaire." He held his hand out.

"Hi." Ashley replied as she reached out to shake his hand, it was the polite thing to do. She was still blushing but managed to keep her voice straight.

She shook his hand and was surprised when Balthazar kissed hers. "Charming! You must be the lovely Ashley Collins, demon researcher and target of heaven and hell." He went on to say.

"Balthazar." Castiel's voice broke through the other angel's opening monologue.

"Ah yes, sorry about that Cas old buddy." Balthazar sobered down and he left Ashley's hand, allowing her to sit back down. "As I was saying, the night went by with no sign of our assassin anywhere. Its possible that he hasn't tracked us down yet, nor has he found the link to Sophia." He explained.

"Or it is possible that the assassin has gone after Sophia." Castiel suddenly said, voicing his thoughts as it hit him.

"Not possible. Everyone in heaven believes that Sophia is somewhere in Europe, spreading love. No one but you and I know where she is at this moment." Balthazar was being optimistic, though he didn't sound too confident himself.

"Perhaps, but we cannot be too sure. One of us should go and keep an eye on Sophia, I will go to her myself." Castiel made his decision, it was getting hard to be around Ashley when it was just the two of them, he needed the distance.

"Alright, go ahead and do your thing Cas, protecting the damsel's in distress like the old times. But why don't we wait for the others to wake up? Maybe Dean or Sam will have their own opinions." Balthazar met Castiel's stare, he knew the truth about Ashley and wanted Castiel to protect her, not Sophia.

Just then, the two angels realized that Ashley was no longer sitting in front of them; they exchanged a look of worry and simultaneously unsheathed their angel swords when a loud clattering noise followed by another emerged from the kitchen. Silently, the two of them quickly made their way towards the kitchen. Balthazar pushed the door open with his free hand and just as he and Castiel were about to rush inside, they heard footsteps behind them and spun around, ready to attack but instead found themselves facing Dean and Jo who were looking at them weirdly.

"Dean!" Castiel exclaimed as he lowered his sword and let his arm hang limp.

"Cas." Dean acknowledged his angel guardian before continuing, "What in heaven's name were you trying to do?" He asked them incredulously.

"Uhh... well you see Dean," Balthazar started to say, "We heard a noise inside the kitchen and thought to check it out, maybe someone slipped inside the house whilst I was in here talking to Cas..." He explained.

"Or..." Jo said as she pushed the door fully open to reveal Ashley standing with her back to them, "Its just Ashley, making breakfast." She grinned at the two angels who were flushed with embarrassment.

Hearing Jo's voice, Ashley turned away from the counter to find her, Dean, Castiel and Balthazar standing in the doorway. She frowned as she took in their expressions and deduced that something wasn't right.

"What's going on?" She asked them, holding a spatula in her hand.

"Oh nothing," Dean said as he stopped his efforts to control his grins, "The boys here were just checking in on you, to see if you were safe." He looked at Castiel and Balthazar who didn't say anything, but remained standing there.

"Okay... do you two want some breakfast?" Ashley was obviously talking to Dean and Jo.

"Breakfast sounds good." Jo piped as she entered the kitchen, "Need some help?" She offered.

"Sure" Ashley nodded and together the two girls set about preparing the breakfast.

Meanwhile, Dean had closed the kitchen door and faced the two angels. He walked back towards the hall, with Castiel and Balthazar following him.

"What was that back there?" He asked them sounding shocked. "You two don't need to just go barging in anywhere like that... just because you're supposed to behave as if Ashley is still Ashley, that doesn't mean you have to constantly protect her, she's capable of handling herself. And besides, didn't you two say that the house was fortified? If anyone would have broken in, they would have passed through the hall to get to the kitchen, but you guys didn't see anyone did you?" Dean sounded like a strict parent then.

"No we didn't see anyone, but we assumed that Ashley might be in danger, she was here one minute and the next she was gone." Balthazar explained.

"Alright, well don't do anything to freak her out next time." Dean told him and Castiel.

"We won't." Castiel and Balthazar assured Dean simultaneously.

"Good. Now is there any way for us to get Sophia to return from her so-called field trip a day early?" The question had been on Dean's mind the whole night. If they could bring Sophia back today itself, it could speed things up in their favor.

There was a large part of him that wanted Ashley to remember who she was so that she and Castiel could finally be together, but the tiny part of him that wished otherwise wanted her to remain oblivious to the danger she faced if she managed to be the one to fight Lucifer.

"No, I don't think there is, though Cassy boy here wants to go spy on her to make sure the assassin hasn't gone after her." Balthazar knew that it was more important for Castiel to stay here and keep an eye on Ashley.

"It sounds like a good idea but we need you here Cas..." Dean told his guardian. "And being an archangel, I'm pretty sure she can handle herself." He knew why Castiel wanted to leave but Dean wasn't going to have any of that. "So no way at all?" He asked Balthazar again.

"Nope, even though there is a high chance that Sophia's involvement in this situation might be revealed to Raphael and Michael soon, its better for us if we just lay low for one day; she'll be back tomorrow and then we'll jump back into the battlefield." Balthazar replied.

"Alright, so we lay low then. No one's gonna leave the house today, not even with one of you; we're staying indoors." Dean was about to say something else to the angels, but stopped himself when he saw Sam had woken up and was heading downstairs towards them.

The kitchen door opened then and Ashley and Jo re-emerged with the food ready, just as Ellen and Bobby had also made their way to the hall. Together, the six of them ate breakfast while Castiel and Balthazar both decided to stay outside and keep a watch; they were more vulnerable to an attack during the day. Once they were finished, Ellen helped the girls to clear the table while Bobby, Dean and Sam retreated to Sophia's den.

"So what's the plan?" Bobby asked as he sat down at the desk.

"We're staying indoors all day, without stepping outside at all." Dean summed up how important it was for them to stick together, temporarily in hiding for one day.

"But what are we gonna do Dean? We can't just sit around doing nothing..." Sam started to protest.

"Boy's right Dean, we gotta do something." Bobby said agreeing with Sam.

"I know that... and I've thought about what we're going to do while we're all under house arrest." Dean started to tell them when the door opened and the ladies walked inside. "I have the whole day planned out for us." He said smiling brightly.

"Don't be too happy boy," Bobby cut in, "We need to hear about this 'plan' of yours, it better not involve us dying of boredom or you'll have me to answer to."

"It won't." Dean assured the older hunter, "Trust me. Sam and I are gonna be training Ashley with Jo's help of course," He winked at Jo as he said that, one which didn't go unnoticed by the others, but they stayed silent and just grinned.

"And what do you want us to do?" Ellen asked Dean, breaking his bubble and snapping him back to reality.

"Same thing like last time." Dean explained without going into details. "Only make sure that you focus on the one place that Sammy told you about." He was careful not to let any names slip out, they didn't want Ashley knowing that there was a background search going on about her family.

"Alright." Sam said, thinking that the plan was the best idea that they had with them so far.

Everyone else agreed that there wasn't anything else that they could do. A complete relaxed day wasn't a luxury they could afford, there was still work to be done. And so, with their plans for the day decided and agreed upon, Sam, Jo and Ashley left the den to retrieve whatever weapons they had as well as find a good place to start the training. Bobby and Ellen were heading for the library when Dean stopped them. He turned around to make sure that no one was nearby before speaking.

"There's one more thing I need you guys to do." He said to them.

"What is it Dean?" Ellen asked him, knowing that there was something he wanted her and Bobby to do without Sam and Jo knowing anything about it.

"See if you can find anything about Dr. Sarah Thomas in the house, this may be Sara Tomasi's house but if they both were possessed by Sophia or if they both are the same person, then we need to find out her connection to Ashley, something that's more than her just being Ashley's doctor." Dean couldn't tell them anything about Aurora but he hoped that they would still find some more information.

"Don't worry boy, we'll make sure that we tear the place down without anyone finding out. You just keep Cas and his winged pal away from the library." Bobby ordered Dean.

Dean just nodded and left the den without saying anything. Bobby and Ellen too left, not noticing anything suspicious about Dean's request, they simply believed that he was still asking them to dig deeper into Ashley's past, not knowing what he really hoped to find. The truth was that Dean himself didn't know what he was hoping for Ellen and Bobby to find, as long as there was some connection to Ashley or something related to Aurora.

There had to be some record hidden in Sophia's files and he was going to find whatever he could. The more he knew about Aurora, the more easier it would be for him to prevent her from fighting Lucifer when the time came. Dean had made up his mind, this time he was going to protect Ashley, no matter the cost, without caring who tried to stop him, he was going to find another way to bring Michael on Earth and let the archangel possess him.

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Cliffhanger! Plus bad news! Don't kill me!

**A/N: **I have to go away for a few days, really have a hectic 3-4 days of college coming up with assignments to be submitted... there won't be another update till Monday or is it Sunday for you guys? The time difference makes my head hurt sometimes... lolz! Reviews? Please be kind!


	34. Chapter 34

Hey everyone! I'm back again! Hope I still have readers left after the tiny break... I have a great chapter coming up today, it has the training scene with Ashley and the others! I'd like to thank my readers for understanding and not killing me... hehehe!

To: **valeskathesilverwolf, whitneysheree, joyceeluna, navybee, and thursdayschild97! **Thanks a lot for your lovely comments! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I am the owner of 2 Cas-related fanfics, but not Cas himself, nor Misha for that matter... *sigh*

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While Dean was conversing with the others about their plans for the day, Castiel had joined Balthazar outside the house to stand guard; even though it was normally the case that any attack on them was more likely to happen during the night, the angels knew that whoever this assassin was, had been sent by Raphael and that meant he could confront them in the daylight if not attack. They spent their time patrolling the grounds and checking to make sure that Sophia's spells and incantations were still intact.

It had already been half an hour since Castiel and Balthazar had begun patrolling and nothing unusual had occurred save for the one time when an old couple from across the street had thrown an odd glance at two men walking up and down the grounds of a house whom they believed belonged to a university teacher, but the couple had walked on without saying anything.

"So... she really is Aurora then?" The question had come out of nowhere, undoubtedly from Balthazar.

Castiel had been expecting this for a while now; he and Dean hadn't really discussed everything last night and while Dean and he were close, Balthazar was the one who knew more about Aurora than Dean did; he had been a good friend to Aurora and her death had caused him a lot of pain and sadness.

"Yes. She has the same perfect sword-fighting skills, blue and purple eyes as well as an enochian tattoo with her name on it." Castiel replied very straight-forwardly.

"Ah yes, the tattoo..." Balthazar's face changed when he heard that, "You can't be mistaken if its there, one of the reasons why we tend to keep it hidden is so that none of our enemies can spot it. That tattoo's basically like a calling card saying '_Look I'm an angel of the lord right here!_' Who in heaven's name came up with such an idea?" He didn't seem to like the idea of being identified by other angels when he was supposed to be hiding from heaven.

"I do not know for sure; I remember Uriel saying that it could have been Michael's decision." Castiel wasn't bothered about the tattoo's for if they didn't exist on their human vessel's then he would never have been certain that Ashley was Aurora.

"I'm betting that it was definitely Michael's big plan" Balthazar said sarcastically, "But anyway, leaving that aside, how are you holding up Cas?" His tone and demeanor changed suddenly, and he sounded more like an angel then.

Castiel didn't say anything at first; they had stopped patrolling the grounds and now stood by the side of the house and incidentally, the windows on that side happened to open inside the den where Dean and Sam were training with the girls. They were oblivious to the angel's presence outside but Castiel and Balthazar stood there watching them, watching Ashley. Both angels were mesmerized as they watched Ashley fight against Dean and within seconds she had him pinned down to the floor, her skills were impeccable and perfect just like Aurora had been.

"It is hard." Castiel finally answered Balthazar as he tore his eyes away from the next training segment, "I feel that there is a part of me that still does not want to believe that she is Aurora, but in my heart I knew it the first time I saw her that she was Aurora... its strange because I thought I could no longer feel human emotions such as love but seeing her that night, I was immediately drawn to her..." He suddenly stopped talking then.

Balthazar clapped his hand on Castiel's shoulder and they continued to scan the grounds for any signs of unusual activity.

"That's what happens when you're around your soul-mate, the attraction and feelings are way more higher than what humans experience and I wouldn't be surprised if Ashley has some feelings for you. Did neither of you feel the _tension _in the air this morning?" He joked.

Castiel looked at Balthazar with a confused look; he had felt something that morning but wasn't about to let anyone know that. He didn't know why he was feeling hesitant to admit it, but if Ashley was indeed Aurora then why did he not acknowledge the truth?

"Look, whether she's Ashley or Aurora or Anita, she's still the same angel you're destined to be with, only now she's human at the moment, but that doesn't mean anything. Aurora seems to be possessing Ashley as her vessel, we just have to figure out why and how." Even after that, Castiel remained silent, so Balthazar decided to get a bit deep and emotional. "I remember how much Aurora cared about you and she really loved you. She still does, even if she doesn't know it." It was equally hard for Balthazar to talk a lot about Aurora but he still put on a cheerful face for his friend.

"All I wish to know is what happened to her that day and why was I unable to save her. I failed her Balthazar; I don't deserve to be a soul-mate to someone so powerful and..." Castiel finally knew what had been bothering him and he confided in his friend about it. But before he could say anything else, Balthazar had cut him off.

"Don't say that Cas! Whatever happened must have been unexpected and someone so powerful that Aurora herself wasn't able to defend herself..." Balthazar suddenly stopped as he realized where he was headed, "But there is no one else apart from Michael and he would never have turned against Aurora." Balthazar was worried now.

"He has turned on her now. You said so yourself that Michael has ordered the assassin to kill her and everyone who protects her. He might have been behind her death in Heaven even though he ordered Zachariah to kill her." As he spoke, Castiel's anger returned; he was still not able to believe that another angel had killed Aurora, she had never done anything to harm Michael nor Zachariah, why would either of them want her dead?

"Hey, relax Cas... he's dead now and once Sophia gets back, you and Aurora can have your long-awaited reunion. You know... talk, catch up, play 20 questions, make out a bit." Balthazar tried to lighten Castiel's mood.

But Castiel did not say anything, he just listened to Balthazar's words while his thoughts were focused on Aurora. What would happen when Aurora remembered? How would he face her? Over 28 years had passed since her death and to see her as a human with no memory of being an angel, of being his lover... would that love, that bond between them still be alive?

As Castiel and Balthazar were reminiscing about the past, Sam and Dean were busy hard at work, training with Ashley and Jo in the den. They had started off with the basics again but had quickly moved on to the actual fighting when everyone realized that Ashley had already mastered the basics in just one turn.

"Are you sure you haven't undergone military training or anything?" Dean asked Ashley, panting as he took her hand and pulled himself off the floor.

"I've told you already Dean, I don't know how I did that... and no, I haven't done military training, I never even did aerobics... I've always been buried in my books and my research." Ashley grinned as he stood up groaning and checked to see if he had any bruises. She sat down herself trying to catch her breath.

"Well then you're a born-hunter." Jo chimed in; she was enjoying watching Ashley fight Dean and win. It seemed as if Ashley was better at defending herself than Dean was and that gave her an advantage.

Ashley blushed at the compliment but didn't say anything. She was surprised at her skills and didn't understand how she had managed to overpower Dean who was much taller and stronger than her. Sam was next up and being even taller than his brother, made Ashley feel that even though he was younger than her, he was definitely almost five feet taller.

"You ready?" Sam asked her, smirking as he approached the center of the room where they had laid a mattress and where Ashley sat.

"Yep, as ready as can be." Ashley smiled back and raised her hand for Sam to help her up.

As soon as they both had assumed their respective fighting stances, there was a knock on the door. Jo walked over and opened the door to find her mom standing there.

"Hey mom, everything okay?" She asked as Ellen walked in.

"Yeah I just needed to talk to Dean." Ellen sounded a little cryptic but didn't say anything else.

Dean had already crossed the room and stood beside Jo. They exchanged a silent look and Jo understood what her mom was here for. She headed back to Sam and Ashley while Ellen and Dean discussed something in a low whisper. After about a minute, Dean turned to the others.

"Why don't you two carry on with the training guys? I wouldn't wanna miss seeing Sammy get pummeled but I need to talk to Bobby about something." Dean explained as he started to follow Ellen outside.

"What's up Dean?" Sam asked his brother before he left the room, he didn't know anything about Ashley's truth but was still suspicious.

"Nothing big Sammy, Bobby's trying to decipher the Enochian language so that its easier for us to cast the same spells on his house." It wasn't a complete lie as Bobby was also trying that but at that moment, something bigger had come up. "Oh and try to be careful on your opponent." Dean told Ashley with a wink and left the room as both the girls burst out giggling.

Once they were out of earshot, Ellen turned back to face Dean, "Bobby hasn't been able to hack into Sophia's computer, which by the way, could get us into a lot of trouble boy," She wasn't too happy with having to search through an archangel's house. "But... we did find some old files that were hidden away." She continued.

"Look, I know that there could be a problem but that's only _if _anyone finds out. And even if Sophia does get to know what we did then I'll take responsibility for everything okay?" Dean was more bothered about what was in those files than anything else.

"Alright." Ellen consented; she knew better than arguing with Dean who stuck to his word no matter what the consequences would be. "We didn't find the files in her study, they were hidden in the library behind some weird Enochian books." She explained to Dean as they reached.

"Did you'll take a look at the files?" He asked Ellen as she knocked three times before Bobby opened the door.

"No we didn't." Bobby answered him. "They're big files with Ashley's name stamped on it and every single one of them is locked. Bloody angels... always keeping things secret and mysterious." He started to grumble.

"Yea well in this case I'm not surprised that Sophia hadn't hidden them inside a safe or something." Dean entered the library and headed straight for the desk where he saw three big black files stacked on top of each other.

"Who says they weren't in a safe?" Bobby retorted back with a wink.

Dean took one look at the older hunter and shook his head as he focused on the files in front of him. This could be it. Everything about Ashley _had_ to be in them. If only the locks weren't in Enochian...

"Boy!" Bobby suddenly barked, breaking Dean's concentration. "What is the meaning of this?" He had been working on Sam's laptop, trying to see if there was a way to use that computer to hack into Sophia's.

Ellen beckoned Dean towards the computers where Bobby had pulled up the same windows that Sam had opened up the other day, but it wasn't the screen of the hospital in Lawrence, Kansas that Bobby had selected, rather the one that Dean had seen and expressed his surprise. The screen was a scanned two pages of John Winchester's journal.

"What in the blazes was Sam thinking by putting the journal through a scanner and onto the laptop? If someone were to hack in and find it?" Bobby seemed to be over-reacting but he did have a point.

"I asked Sammy the same thing, Bobby." Dean replied in a calm voice, "He said that these pages of Dad's journal are the only two pages that stood out, which we can clearly see since some parts have been inked out. Sam thought that if we can magnify the pages and he can do some weird geek-boy thing of his, then we should be able to find out what's written there." He explained.

"But what's so important about these pages?" Ellen asked him, "What sort of connection do they have to our research?"

In answer to her question, Dean simply pointed to the top of the screen where the first of the two pages of John's journal were open; there was something scribbled in the top right hand corner but had gotten faded over the years. Still, it was possible to make out four numbers.

"1,9,8,1." Ellen read out loud. "1981. Why's the date so important Dean?" She still was puzzled.

"Apart from the fact that this boy was two years old and his brother wasn't born yet? Beats me." Bobby too seemed to find the date of no importance.

Dean was about to answer both of them but before he could do so, his phone started to ring, it was Sam calling him.

"Sammy?" Dean asked as he answered his cell phone.

"_Dean! You'd better get down here. Quick." _Sam's voice sounded worried and scared. Sam never sounded scared and that was something that made Dean very alert.

"Sammy? What's wrong? Has something happened?" He spoke in a fast voice.

"_I don't know what's wrong but you should come and see for yourself." _Sam sounded cryptic but Dean knew that Sam wasn't lying when he said he had no idea what was wrong.

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes when I finish up here with Ellen and Bobby." Dean didn't think it was too urgent, Sam must have been worrying for no reason.

"_Dean." _Sam's voice was steadier and calm as he spoke the next two words, _"It's Ashley."_

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**Tell me that wasn't an awesome comeback! Lolz! Reviews would be nice! ^_^**


	35. Chapter 35

I'd like to thank my readers: **valeskathesilverwolf, whitneysheree, joyceeluna, navybee, and xxkissesandcuddlesxx** for your positively delightful comments! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **Eric Kripke owns Supernatural and thus indirectly owns this fic. I own this fic and thus indirectly own Supernatural. Yay! ^_^

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As soon as he heard Ashley's name, Dean felt his heart stop for a split second. He was out of the library before Ellen or Bobby could say anything. The only thing going through Dean's mind was to get downstairs as quickly as possible. He ran past the corridor, hastened down the staircase two steps at a time and skidded as he reached the den which had been left open. Taking a deep breath, Dean quickly entered the den and searched frantically for Ashley.

His eyes spotted her in a second, she was standing by the windows at the back corner of the room, pacing up and down very quickly, repeating one thing over and over again.

"Someone's coming. Someone's coming. Someone's coming." Ashley fidgeted with her hands as she glanced outside the window every five seconds before walking again.

"Ashley!" Dean called out to her the minute he saw her.

She stopped walking and a wave of relief washed through her when she saw Dean standing there. Ashley immediately stopped pacing and ran over to him looking frantic with worry about something.

"Dean! Thank god you're here. Sam and Jo have been freaking out, they don't believe me but I know that you do." Her voice had suddenly changed, she sounded frightened.

Dean placed his hands on her shoulders trying to calm her down. He held one hand under her chin and made her look into his eyes; she seemed normal, except for the fact that she had been rambling less than a minute ago. Something was wrong with her, but what?

"I do believe you Ashley, what's wrong?" He asked her gently, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Jo and Sam were watching them with apprehensive faces.

"I don't know exactly, I was fine a few minutes ago. We were training when suddenly this feeling came over me, at first I thought it was nothing but its increasing every minute and I'm... I'm scared Dean, I don't know why, but I'm scared." Ashley seemed to know that something was trying to get her scared but she didn't know what or why.

"Don't worry Ashley, I'm right here. We're all here and nothing's going to happen to you okay?" He waited until he was sure that Ashley was listening to him and when she nodded he went on, "Now tell me, what feeling are you getting? What's bothering you so much?" They had had weird experiences before and Dean knew better to jump to conclusions without hearing anything.

"I... I think that there's someone coming Dean. Right now, someone's coming here. I don't know how I know it, but I feel that someone is headed this way, to the house. But that's impossible right? I mean, how would I know if there was someone coming? And who could it be? We all are here aren't we?" She asked him, looking panicked now. "I'm scared because I don't know what's happening to me Dean. Am I going mad?" Ashley looked up at Dean with eyes full of fear and worry.

"No. No you're not going mad Ashley." Dean answered without a thought. He moved his hands from her shoulders to her cheeks, "Look at me Ashley, there's nothing wrong with you. If you think someone's coming then we're prepared for them. And you are too. It doesn't matter how you know it or why you know it okay? Just remember that you're alright." Dean spoke in a calm voice, trying to soothe Ashley.

It seemed to have worked for whatever was going on with Ashley started to fade away, she was getting back to normal. Dean finally met Sam's eyes and Jo's; they both were confused and worried as well, but all Dean could think of was to keep Ashley safe. And sane. He made her sit down on one of the sofa's and sat next to her.

"Sammy," Dean called his brother, "Why don't you go and see if Cas and Balthazar have noticed any unusual people outside?" He knew that Sam wasn't aware of Ashley's true identity but he had promised Castiel not to say anything. He also knew that whatever was happening to Ashley had something to do with her being Aurora.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Sam told Dean as he walked out, looking back at Ashley one last time before leaving.

"Jo. Why don't you see where your mom and Bobby have got to? Tell them to finish their work later, we need everyone in one place." Dean didn't have to say it twice, nor had he spoken to Jo in a cold manner, his voice was merely tense.

"Yea sure." She too got up and left the room leaving Dean and Ashley alone.

For a few minutes there was silence, a comfortable and quiet silence that had fallen around the den. Ashley lay on the sofa tapping her fingers softly on her legs while Dean just sat there watching her carefully. After a few moments, Ashley spoke up.

"Are you sure you believe me Dean?" She asked him again, turning to look at him.

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?" He moved forwards and placed his elbows on his knees and met Ashley's gaze.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that I think that there's someone coming here and its freaking me out because its never happened before. I'm used to the other things... but this, this is like I'm seeing the future or something and I don't like it at all." Ashley answered softly.

"What do you mean by other things?" Dean hadn't heard what Ashley had said after that.

"Honestly, I'm not too sure what they are," Ashley started to say, "But whenever I get those weird headaches I keep seeing these flashes of places I swear I've never seen before, they don't even look like anything that's on Earth!" She exclaimed, "I mean... its hard to explain but it feels as if I'm looking at some place else... there's this garden that looks so... normal but it doesn't look like a garden that would belong here. Its like... paradise or something. And there's a fountain that is so intricately carved with detailing to the last point but I can never make out what is carved there, all I see is a tall marble fountain standing inside the garden." She finished talking and looked at Dean who didn't seem to be surprised at all.

"Have you seen any people in these flashes? Or is it always just the garden and the fountain?" Dean asked her, suddenly getting an idea, if Ashley's visions were what he thought they were then it further strengthened his theory that she was Aurora.

"Just the garden and the fountain... but..." Ashley hesitated, unsure if she should go on. Something was holding her back.

"But what?" That one word from Ashley had caught Dean's attention, he wasn't going to force her but he needed to know what she had seen.

"The last time I got a headache was different, it was before you left to go find that archangel. For the first time, I think I did see someone standing in the garden, but I couldn't see anything except for a shadow." She finally told him.

Hearing that, Dean knew that his suspicions were correct and if he was not mistaken then he had a feeling as to whom Ashley had seen in her last vision.

"I wouldn't worry that much if I were you, its probably nothing... maybe Sophia's enchantments have rubbed off on you... as soon as she gets here, we'll make sure that she lessens the fortification around the house, after all with three angels with us I doubt we need the extra protection." Dean spoke calmly.

"Alright... I think I'm..." Ashley suddenly stopped speaking as she jumped up, looking frightened.

"Ashley?" Dean reached out and held her hand, "What is it?" He asked her.

"Someone's here. That person... whoever it is... whoever I felt coming... has come..." She was shivering slightly now, thinking that she had gone crazy again.

Dean stood up and holding onto Ashley's hand took her outside the den; if someone was indeed here then he would need Castiel with him to protect Ashley; it was likely that the mysterious person was the assassin that Michael had sent to kill her and the rest of them. When they reached the hall, Dean saw that Ellen, Jo and Bobby were sitting there quietly but stood up the second they saw Ashley with him.

"Ashley!" Ellen exclaimed, her motherly instincts kicking in, "Are you alright?" She crossed the room to where Ashley stood silently next to Dean, clutching his hand.

"She's fine Ellen... but there's another problem... we think that someone may be trying to enter the house any minute now..." Dean explained, "Where's Sammy?" He asked.

"He's still outside," Jo replied, "I don't know why he hasn't come back... I'll go and call him." She stood up and started to head for the door.

Unfortunately at that very moment, Ashley started to scream. She had seen something through the window and had scared her completely.

"Ashley!" Dean held onto her as she started trembling and murmuring to herself again.

"_No! Don't. Don't do this... you don't... you don't have to... kill me..."_ Her voice was a mere whisper but because Dean held her in his arms, he was able to hear her words.

As soon as he heard the words 'kill me' Dean's head shot up and without thinking he knew what he had to do.

"Jo. Get Cas. Now." He was hugging the shaking Ashley and trying to calm her down, but somehow he knew that Castiel was the only one who could help her.

Without asking anything, a wide-eyed and scared Jo ran outside the house to get Castiel. An equally shocked Bobby and Ellen just stood rooted to their spots, watching as Dean massaged Ashley's back while he whispered soothing words to her, but she wouldn't stop the ranting.

"_There's always another way... don't do this..."_ She sounded distant for a second as if she was speaking to someone in another time.

Suddenly Castiel appeared out of nowhere looking shocked as he noticed Ashley's sudden change. He rushed over to Dean and took her from him.

"What happened to her Dean?" Castiel asked him as he held onto Ashley, who was gripping his trench coat tightly.

"I don't know Cas... one minute she was fine, next she started screaming. I think she saw someone outside the window; is it the assassin?" Dean knew that there was someone outside the house at that moment.

"No. It is only Sophia. She came a few minutes ago, saying that she saw the assassin at the camp which is why she returned early." Castiel was confused, how could seeing Sophia have triggered anything that Ashley was experiencing?

"Did she say anything else?" Dean asked him, watching as Castiel slowly led Ashley to the sofa and laid her down gently.

"No. I came inside as soon as Jo told me that something was wrong with Ashley..." Castiel replied and stood up so quickly that everyone was startled.

Bobby was the first to see Sam standing with Balthazar and a young woman who he assumed was Sophia. Castiel shifted ever so slowly trying to hide Sophia from being seen by Ashley but was unlucky in doing so because he felt Ashley bolt upright at the sight of Sophia and started shouting again.

"_I did not betray you! I was only protecting her! Don't do this Zachariah..."_ On hearing the dead angel's name, everyone turned to face Ashley looking stunned.

"What's going on here Dean?" Jo asked sounding surprised.

"I believe I know what the problem is." Sophia suddenly spoke up, her melodious voice sounding serious now.

Before she could answer Sam, Castiel had turned to Ashley and soothed her back to lying down on the sofa.

"_You don't need to kill me... there's always another way..." _Ashley's rant seemed to have struck Castiel as he realized what she was talking about.

"Listen to me Ashley, no one is going to kill you." Castiel felt his heart cracking as it hit him; he too knew what was happening to her.

"_No... I'll never surrender... I won't let you hurt him..."_Ashley sounded as if she was slipping away from reality. Castiel had to pull her back. He had to try.

The next words that Castiel spoke not only surprised the already stunned Ellen, Bobby, Sam and Jo; they nearly fell back down onto their seats hearing him.

"_Aurora_, look at me." He tried to get through to her before she was lost. There was no response, but Castiel wasn't going to give up on her so easily; he wasn't going to allow the archangels to win again.

"Look into my eyes Aurora." Castiel ordered her as he held her cheeks in both hands causing her to meet his gaze, "It's me... you remember me don't you? I swore to protect you with my life and my soul. I won't let anything happen to you."He prayed silently that he was getting through to her.

"Castiel..." Her voice was soft, barely a whisper, but there was a smile on her face... "You came for me... I knew you would..." She slowly reached a hand out to touch his cheek.

"I'll always be there for you..." Castiel's voice suddenly shook, and no one but the other two angels in the room realized the truth behind his sudden change, he looked as if he was breaking all over again.

Knowing he had her focus on himself now, Castiel cleared his head from thoughts of the past and concentrated on keeping Ashley safe; he started to whisper something softly in another language, Enochian, and within seconds, Ashley was slowly starting to fall asleep.

"Cas... I love you..." She whispered as her eyes closed.

"I love you too." Castiel replied, seemingly not realizing that the others had been watching them.

A minute passed by in silence with no one understanding what they had just witnessed. They were waiting for someone to say something; it was Castiel who first broke the silence when he stood up and met the others' stares.

"I used an ancient Enochian spell to put Ashley to sleep." He explained part of his actions, knowing that it wasn't the most important one.

"That's a good idea." Balthazar piped in, looking as if he too knew what had just transpired with Ashley.

"Can someone care to explain what on earth is going on here?" Sam wasn't angry, just confused.

"I was about to say that Ashley was under another spell earlier..." Sophia spoke up, "It looks like Michael's handiwork, he is the only one who can do this..." Her voice faltered suddenly.

"And _this_ is what exactly?" Bobby asked Sophia with a huff.

"He's making her relive Aurora's death... she's hallucinating the day that Aurora died..." Sophia said softly.

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**Dun-dun... DUN! **There's your answer everyone! Reviews? ^_^

**A/N: **While this was a loooong chapter, i am sorry to say that tomorrow's won't be as long, but it's still coming up!


	36. Chapter 36

To all my readers: **valeskathesilverwolf, whitneysheree, joyceeluna, navybee, bekyg620 and xxkissesandcuddlesxx, **a really big heartfelt Thank You All for the lovely feedback! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **Supernatural isn't mine but if I can't have Misha, how about Jensen or Jared?

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"Who's Aurora?" Ellen asked Sophia, glancing at Ashley wondering what she had to do with all of this.

Sophia did not answer Ellen and looked to Castiel who sighed as he understood that he was going to have to tell everyone about Aurora and her connection to Ashley.

"Aurora is an angel..." The four words from Castiel's mouth were enough to elicit gasps of surprise from Ellen, Bobby and Sam, while Dean and Jo remained silent. "She was my soul-mate... but she was murdered by Zachariah 28 years ago." Castiel continued.

Before he could explain further, Sam interrupted him, "Hold on a second... Aurora died?" Sam was taken aback when he heard that. "But then how... what... where does Ashley fit into all of this?" He was so confused at that moment, but he knew everyone needed answers.

Castiel hesitated for a minute, he turned away from the others and looked down at Ashley's sleeping form; she wouldn't wake up for a few more hours and until then she was safe from any more dreams or visions of the past. He took a deep breath and glanced at Dean who quietly nodded to him as if to say that it was alright to tell everyone the truth.

"Ashley... she..." Castiel started to say haltingly as he wrestled trying to find the right words to explain the situation to the others, "Ashley is Aurora... she is alive. I do not know how, but it seems as if Aurora is possessing Ashley as her human vessel." He finally answered Sam.

It took less time than Dean and Castiel had expected for Sam, Bobby and Ellen to digest the news; they were silent for several minutes until Bobby spoke up.

"Are you trying to say that this girl," He pointed to her, "Ashley is an angel?" Bobby knew it sounded incredulous.

"Yes." Castiel replied in a monotone.

"How?" Ellen asked, sounding amazed, "Does she know who she really is?" She seemed to be handling the idea better than the others.

"No. I do not know how Aurora survived but I do know that she is possessing Ashley at the moment because like all angels she has an enochian tattoo with her name inscribed on it." Castiel explained.

"Wait, all angels have _tattoos_?" Sam asked, looking at Balthazar and Sophia as well.

Balthazar groaned as he muttered something that was incomprehensible about the tattoos and where exactly they were located. After noticing that everyone was waiting for proof that the tattoos were real he finally spoke up.

"Yes its real okay? We all have tattoo's to identify who's who. It gets transferred to our human vessel's when we possess them... but unfortunately, sometimes the stupid thing lands up on a certain area of the body that isn't really easily seen by humans." He seemed to be fuming while talking about this particular topic.

"Can we see yours Balthazar?" Dean finally decided to say something, knowing that he was good at lightening the mood.

"No!" Balthazar snapped at Dean and then turned a bright scarlet as he continued, "Its bloody ridiculous these idiotic tattoo's... getting placed wherever they like!" He sounded embarrassed, clearly not wanting to show anyone his tattoo.

"Oh c'mon Balthazar, it can't be that bad can it?" Dean gave him a fake-serious look, "I promise you we won't laugh..." Even as he said that, he had to control himself from grinning widely.

"Ha ha, not going to work Dean... why don't you ask Sophia for a little show and tell?" Balthazar hoped that his wasn't the only tattoo that was located at an awkward place.

All this while Sophia had stood silently in the corner, listening to everything that was being said. Only now that she heard Balthazar's taunt did she decide to finally speak up and say something.

"Really Balthazar?" Sophia turned her head to look at him with her mesmerizing brown eyes and speaking with her melodious voice, "Do you think that I have any reason to hide where my tattoo is?" She smiled as she turned around and flipped her hair to the side revealing her neck where everyone got a good look at the tattoo, black with enochian symbols.

Suddenly someone spoke up, a voice that didn't belong to anyone standing in the room, though it seemed as if the person was inside the house.

"Well that's all very exciting isn't it?" The voice sounded bored and sarcastic, "But shall we get down to business?" The person to whom the voice belonged to emerged from nowhere startling everyone.

"You!" Dean exclaimed as he grabbed his rifle and pointed it and the unwelcome visitor and noticed that the others had armed themselves as well.

"Yes me. Good to see you too Dean..." The person was dressed in black from head to toe and spoke with a bit of a scottish accent.

"How the bloody hell did you get inside the house Crowley?" Dean growled as he unlocked his gun.

"Ah yes well you see... I am one of the more powerful demon's and being Lilith's right hand man meant that I was able to find a tiny hole in your angel's magical forcefield. All I had to do was make it big enough for me to get through, which..." Crowley's face turned into a frown as he acknowledged the next part of his sentence, "took me a good hour to accomplish, but as you can see, I managed it just fine." He then gave a dramatic bow and stood up to see Sam pointing his rifle to his chest.

"And give us one good reason why we shouldn't kill you right now." Sam's finger was on the trigger, itching to squeeze it just a bit more.

Crowley brushed off Sam with one hand but raised both of them in defense when Bobby, Jo and Ellen simultaneously loaded their weapons. The demon noticed that the angel's were standing behind quietly, though they each held their angel swords.

"Alright, I give up." He said, sounding like he meant it. "I came here to tell you that whoever this person is, the girl who you all are protecting is in big danger, there's an assassin been sent to kill her." Crowley explained.

"We already knew that." Bobby snarled, "But thanks for the heads up again."

"How did you know that she's after you?" Crowley asked them sounding surprised.

"_She?_" Jo exclaimed as she processed what the demon had just revealed. "I thought the angel after Ashley was a man?"

"Whoa!" Crowley was shocked when he heard that, "An angel assassin? Who is this girl? And why would an angel assassin be after her when there already is a demon assassin behind her?" He seemed not to know who Ashley really was.

Hearing that everyone faltered slightly. Even the three angel's. A demon assassin was out to kill Ashley as well?

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Oops? Cliffhanger again... I know... sorry! And for the really short chapter today. On the bright side Crowley's back! And you have a big showdown coming up! Reviews? ^_^


	37. Chapter 37

A big thank you to all my readers **xxkissesandcuddlesxx, whitneysheree, valekshathesilverwolf, joyceeluna and navybee **for the feedback! Small chapter again! Sorry!

**Disclaimer: **I own the character's new plot lines! ^_^

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Dean was the first to get his senses back, he raised his rifle again and poked it into Crowley's chest.

"What demon assassin?" He growled.

"I believe you know her... Meg? Does the name ring a bell?" But before Dean could answer him, Crowley continued, "She was working with Alistair to find the girl, but when she saw Alistair send hellhounds after her that night, she decided that a surprise attack had to be planned in a better way..."

"Alistair sent those hellhounds after Ashley?" Dean repeated what he had just heard from Crowley, "And he raised the barriers too?" He seemed not to have heard Meg's name.

"Yes. He was trying to stop you two from getting to her but apparently he wasn't counting on your angel friend back there," He pointed to Castiel, "to save her. Why do you think he showed up again with his posse of demons at the house?"

"And how do you know all of this?" Sam asked Crowley, wondering if the demon had some hand in everything that had happened to Ashley in the past few days.

"I have my sources..." Crowley started to say, but after getting poked in the chest with Dean's gun he sighed before continuing, "Fine. I've been a silent spectator in the events of the last day or so." He shrugged, "I've been trying to figure out who this girl is, but clearly the enchantments on this house have a sound-proof spell on them too..."

"It's to keep out any unwanted eavesdroppers." Sophia said to Crowley, "Now if you have nothing more to tell us, I suggest you leave my house before one of us does something that we won't regret..." She went on to tell him, fingering her angel sword as if indicating what they had planned.

Crowley seemed to have been offended when he heard that for he swatted Dean's gun away and didn't seem to care that he had half a dozen other weapons aimed at him. He was determined to make his point.

"Now look here, I'm on your side! Did you already forget that I was the one who gave you the Colt? I want Lucifer dead as much as you guys do!"

"Yea well the gun didn't work like you said it would," Dean said angrily, "We nearly got killed in the process because Meg set her hellhounds on us... and the devil is one of the five things that can't be killed by your stupid gun, so don't give me the whole bullshit about wanting to help us." Dean hated talking about the incident at Carthage and knew that if Crowley went on and on, he'd lose his patience and put a hole in the demon's head.

"Hey!" Crowley protested as he found himself at the end of Dean's gun again. "I had no idea that was going to happen okay? And besides, I know about the rings! I can help you get the last ring." Crowley tried to reason with Dean hoping that his plan would work.

"Why should we believe you?" Sam asked, getting tired of holding the trigger but not pulling it, "How about we just shoot him Dean?" He glanced at his brother.

"No! Wait!" Crowley seemed nervous when he saw Bobby remove the Colt from his pocket and hand it over to Dean who switched his rifle and instead pointed the Colt at Crowley's chest. "I know where the last horseman is going to be. Heard it from Alistair himself just before he left to attack you guys... Chicago's about to be wiped off the map by the biggest storm in history – 3 million people are going to die. And Death is going to be there."

"And if we get there before the storm begins then we can stop Death and get his ring." Jo finished Crowley's sentence. "Dean..." She started to say as she lowered her gun which unfortunately was the moment Crowley had been waiting for.

Before anyone had moved, Sam's gun had gone off, nearly missing Crowley as the demon lunged towards Jo and grabbed her, placing himself behind her. She was trapped.

"Let her go!" Dean roared as he realized what Crowley had just done, he tried getting an aim on the demon but he was hesitant to fire.

"No. Not until I know that I will walk safely and alive out of this, your girlfriend over here is my insurance." Crowley tightened his grip around Jo's neck which wasn't the best thing for him to have done.

He seemed to have forgotten that Jo was a hunter herself and not a helpless young girl that he thought her to be; she had already been taken by Zachariah once and wasn't about to surrender herself over to a demon. Before the others had even blinked, Jo had used her lose hand to wrench Crowley's arm away from her neck and twisted it around hard, freeing herself and allowing Dean and Sam to pin him against the wall.

"You want your insurance?" Dean asked Crowley as he and Sam waited for Sophia who headed straight for the demon and grabbed his neck in a choke-hold, "Don't take a hunter as your hostage next time." Dean finished as he and Sam stood back watching as Sophia placed a barrier around Crowley, trapping him in the same spot.

"Just in case you didn't know," Sophia started to say to Crowley, "I am an archangel, which means that I have much more power than some meager demon."

Now that they had dealt with Crowley, it was important for everyone to work on the information that they had just gotten from him. But as they all sat down Castiel spoke first, his priority being Ashley before anything else.

"I think we should move Ashley upstairs to one of the rooms, she will be safer there and no one will know where she is." He suggested to the others.

"That's what I was thinking of too Cas..." Balthazar added as he spoke up, "Shall I take her to Sophia's room?" He offered.

"My room is the safest but I need to talk to you Balthazar," Sophia held out a hand to stop him from leaving, "And you too Castiel..." She added.

"It's alright, I'll take her." Sam volunteered.

He waited for a moment before getting up, and slowly picking Ashley's sleeping form in his arms, headed upstairs. On reaching Sophia's bedroom, Sam quickly crossed the room and he gently laid her on the bed where she continued to sleep peacefully and without any more hallucinations. She looked like a normal sleeping girl just then, and was so calm that everything that had happened to Ashley in the past few days all seemed like an illusion. Sam stood there for a minute just staring at her, a flood of emotions rushing through his mind.

"Don't worry," He whispered to her, "We'll find a way to save you." Bending down, he softly kissed her forehead.

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There you go! No cliffhanger! Reviews please?


	38. Chapter 38

Here's to all my wonderful readers **valeskathesilverwolf, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, whitneysheree, navybee, iloveleopards200, joyceeluna, were-girl19, bekyg620 **and my new reader **minaghostwolf. **Wow... 9 reviewers! Yay! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I am too happy and kinda emotional to think of anything to claim... or disclaim. Lolz!

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When Sam was gone, Sophia turned to Dean, "If you'll excuse us Dean, I think you know what you have to do here." She started to tell him, "While Crowley may be a demon, it is possible that he was telling us the truth about the last horseman. We should think of our next step." She finished as she stood up. "Oh and don't worry about him, he can't hear us and neither can we hear him." Sophia added, referring to the trapped Crowley.

"That's good." Dean replied, watching as Balthazar and Castiel followed Sophia to the den. He then turned to Bobby, Jo and Ellen and spoke to them, "I agree with Sophia, if there's a chance that Death is going to be in Chicago then we should take him out. I'll go with Cas alone because its safer that way... in the meantime I think its best if we prepare ourselves for a fight, Crowley may have been followed by Meg and if he got inside the house, she might be able to get in as well."

"What about the angel assassin?" Ellen asked Dean, "Surely he could have also followed Sophia back here. What if both assassins breach the house?" She had thought that having to fight one assassin was enough, but now that they knew there were two of them and they would be four hunters and two angels, the odds favored them but it was still dangerous.

"Then you fight. Remember what Sophia said, Ashley's our number one priority. She can't be taken by either Meg or the other angel ninja murderer. I'll try and come back as soon as I can. There's three hunters and two angels against a low-life demon and a ninja angel..." Dean was cut-off halfway by Jo.

"What do you mean three hunters Dean? Me, Sam, Mom and Bobby make four. There'll be four of us fighting against two assassins and we'll have Balthazar and Sophia..." She knew what Dean was talking about, she just had to get him to say it.

"You're not going to be fighting Jo... I know you can and you want to but Ashley needs protection that's more than just a magical barrier, if something goes wrong, we can't leave her alone upstairs when she's vulnerable right now." Dean explained to Jo how important Ashley was.

He noticed that Jo was about to protest and try to convince him otherwise but he needed both of them safe and away from the fight. Before Jo could say anything, Dean had taken her hands in his and squeezed them tightly, not caring that Bobby and Ellen had their eyes on him.

"Jo, listen to me. I need both of you safe. I almost lost you once and I don't want that to happen again; you have to protect yourself and Ashley as well, and not because of who she really is..." _But because I... why do I want her safe? Why is there another reason?_Dean was confused, why was it so important to him that Ashley stay alive? It was because she was Aurora, Castiel's soul-mate... but was that all? Was something else making Dean want to protect Ashley with his life? What was it?

"Dean?" Jo's voice broke his thoughts and he snapped out of his reverie. "I'll protect Ashley... and I'll stay safe as well. I promise." She didn't ask any questions and didn't try to change Dean's mind.

Jo knew that Dean had suffered a lot when she was dying after the hellhound attack and had been a wreck even after Castiel had healed her. That was a secret between her and the angel; she never told Dean about knowing how he had been for that one week after they had come back from Carthage but that didn't mean she would never tell him in the future, the time wasn't right just yet.

Their conversation was interrupted by Bobby who had decided to butt in as he liked to put it. "Well if that's it then, we should probably see if this archangel of love keeps weapons on hand, we can't fight off two assassins with love potions and cupid arrows."

At that, Ellen, Jo and Dean started to laugh. It was good to know that in the midst of an impending apocalypse while trying to defeat the devil and kill two assassins there was still time for a laugh or a smile.

In the meantime, the angels who had retreated to the den were trying to have a calm conversation but it wasn't going smoothly.

"Look Sophia, all we're trying to say is that Sam found Ashley's birth certificate with nothing but a Dr. Sarah Thomas on it. And you were the one who found Aurora when she died... so how did she end up being born as Ashley Collins?" Balthazar hoped that Sophia would give him and Castiel some answers.

"I can't tell you everything. I know it all, I know what happened and I was the doctor Sarah Thomas on Ashley's birth certificate." Sophia replied, giving some answers.

"Why did you not say anything?" Castiel sounded angry. "All these years you knew that Aurora was alive and yet you stayed quiet! 28 years Sophia! I have been existing for 28 years without her, I had become cold and emotionless, unable to feel anything... until I met Ashley... why did you not tell me she was alive?" Now, Castiel looked sad and helpless, feeling as if he had been betrayed.

"She told me not to!" Sophia answered him, "Aurora made me swear... she made me take an oath on our bond that I would never tell anyone what happened. Everyone was supposed to think that she died!" Sophia was upset too, because she had not wanted to hide everything from Castiel. "Don't you think that I haven't wanted to tell you? I know what you've been through Castiel, I can feel your pain and there have been countless times that I tried so hard to find a way to tell you... but the oath would have broken... and if Michael and Raphael found out... look what's happened now that they know... there are two assassins after her! And that's only because they think she's Aurora..." Sophia suddenly caught herself and stopped talking.

"What do you mean by they think she's Aurora?" Balthazar raised an eyebrow, "She _is_ Aurora that's why they are after her... what other reason would there be?" He drawled on and then it hit him.

"You know something else about her don't you?" Castiel asked Sophia first, also having understood what she had almost let slip.

"Yes. I do. But I can't say anything. Aurora is the one who can give you the answers to all your questions..." Sophia told him.

"And is there a way for you to help us?" Balthazar knew that if Sophia had been involved in covering up Aurora's death then she may know a way to help Ashley. "Can you bring Aurora's memories back?" It was a question that Castiel was longing to hear the answer to.

Sophia didn't say anything at first, she sat down on the sofa and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. She was different than the other angels that Balthazar and Castiel knew, both in heaven and on earth. Even now as Sara Tomasi who they had found out was another human that Sophia had possessed, the similarity in the name with Sarah Thomas had been a mere coincidence, she carried herself with a lot of elegance and grace, part of her responsibility of having two powers was to be able to balance both of them mentally and emotionally. And yet, standing in front of her right now, both men finally saw that the pressure was starting to form a crack in Sophia's usual perfect composure.

"Yes. I can help her." Sophia answered after a while, having gathered herself and returning to her usual state.

As soon as the words had left Sophia's mouth, there was a loud bang that echoed all around the mansion; it sounded like a gun-shot but when the three angel's ran outside to the hall they saw that the main doors had been thrown open with both frames falling to the floor with a loud crash revealing two figures standing at the threshold of the house; Meg and Virgil, the assassins sent to kill Ashley.

"Heya boys! Miss me?" Meg cackled as she was flanked by two more demons.

"Evil bitch." Dean replied smugly as he loaded his gun, "Working with the enemy I see." He said to her, indicating the angel assassin who was standing silently and stiff.

"Desperate times calls for desperate measures Dean; we both want the same thing so why not work together?" Meg sauntered inside the house casually, having seemingly broken through the barriers.

"I see, so what exactly is it that you want? Come to die?" Dean asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"Now, now Dean... I know you love playing games but I really don't enjoy playing pretend... let's cut to the chase shall we?" Meg taunted, raising a dagger.

"Yes, let's. I think its time we shredded you to pieces." Dean was buying time so that Jo could slip away quietly.

He had been standing behind Jo when the doors had broken down and the second he saw the assassins enter, he had motioned for her to go quickly to Ashley without being seen by anyone, especially Meg towards whom Jo held a strong hatred because of the incident at Carthage. Reluctantly Jo retreated behind the sofa and crouching low managed to run up the staircase without being seen thanks to Sam who came down at that very minute and helped her stay hidden.

"Kinky. Sounds interesting, but I have a better idea; give us the girl or we shred _you_ to pieces." Meg retaliated, noticing Sam reaching for his gun as he headed towards Dean but not taking a notice of Jo who disappeared into thin air.

"Really? I think we should see how your plan works out because we don't have the girl with us." Dean lied, "She's hidden in a safe place, one you can't get to." He knew it was a long shot lie but he'd do anything to keep Ashley safe.

"And you expect us to just believe you Dean? Let us take an innocent peak around this _mansion_ then." Meg cooed as he called his bluff.

"Enough!" The angel assassin, Virgil, suddenly spoke out. "I sense the girl's presence in this house. Hand her over or we take her. By force." He slid out his angel sword from under his jacket.

"Threatening us won't get you anywhere... we're not giving you any girl." Sam stood firmly with Dean beside him.

"Yea sorry pal, we can't do that." Dean added. He knew it wasn't a good idea to try and get out of this mess but there were bigger issues to handle at the moment.

"Then prepare to die." Virgil strode forward and tried to attack Dean who had been standing away from the others, closer to him.

Fortunately at that very moment, Sophia had signaled to Balthazar and the angel had quietly disappeared, taking Dean and Crowley with him just as Virgil lunged to stab Dean with his angel sword. The assassin growled in anger when he realized that Dean was gone.

"You shall not escape!" Virgil yelled at the others as he prepared to strike. In response, they all unlocked their weapons and took aim.

"Boys," Meg clicked her fingers and her lackeys drew their weapons as they prepared to fight. "Take them." She ordered.

"Sam!" Sophia called out to the younger Winchester, "Leave Virgil to us." She told him as she and Castiel drew their weapons and surrounded Virgil.

There was a moment of tense silence that hung in the air as both parties waited for the first attack; but having lost all patience, one of Meg's lackey demons broke the tension as he lunged to attack Bobby, causing the fight to begin. The second demon headed towards Ellen leaving Meg alone to face off against Sam. Sophia and Castiel were fighting Virgil together, constantly moving quickly as they attacked and dodged his advances, injuring him successfully within seconds but not enough to weaken him.

"Sammy, sammy, sammy..." Meg cooed as she dodged a punch from him, "Is that all you got? Too bad you ain't pumped up on demon blood anymore eh?" She tried to stab Sam with her dagger but he reached out and caught her arm and twisted it around forcing her to drop the knife.

"Oh trust me, I've got a lot more where that came from. Don't worry Meg, I don't want to disappoint you..." Sam had pinned her arm's around her back and kicked her.

With Meg disoriented for a few seconds, Sam took the opportunity to help Ellen fight off the demon. He grabbed Ruby's knife from the table and taking aim, he threw the dagger and it landed straight into the demon's back, killing him instantly. Unfortunately, because he knew it gave Meg enough time to recover, Sam was attacked by her from behind getting cut with her dagger near his lower back.

"Sam!" Ellen screamed as she haw him fell to his knees.

Her yell had alerted Castiel who quickly exchanged a look with Sophia and left fighting Virgil to go and face Meg. Sam was already getting back on his feet, looking pissed off even though he was in pain.

"I can handle this." Sam said gritting through his teeth as Castiel tried to stop him from moving.

"Yea Clarence, let baby Sammy learn to fight his own battles..." Meg said teasingly.

Sam started to head for Meg but she seemed to have been distracted by something else. The demon was looking upstairs in shock as she saw Jo standing on the landing.

"Well, well... if it isn't little miss blondie..." Meg drawled as she watched Jo load her gun and aim it in her direction, "I see you survived meeting my pets."

"Yea well, I don't think you're gonna survive this." Jo said as she fired without hesitating, hitting Meg square in the shoulder.

"Oh you're a feisty little bitch." Meg growled as she ran past Sam and headed up the staircase towards Jo.

"Sophia!" Castiel called out to the archangel, as he realized that Jo was endangering herself and Ashley by instigating Meg. "Do it now!" He told her.

Immediately, Sophia stopped fighting with Virgil; the assassin was finally weakened and lay on the floor barely conscious. She held her hands out and chanted some spell in Enochian. Whatever it was, Castiel knew that Ashley was safe now and he could help Jo without having to worry about her. He noticed that the only person still standing was Meg and it was high time he put an end to this.

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Loooong chapter! Hope the fight wasn't too bad to read. Reviews anyone?


	39. Chapter 39

I got reviews again! Yay! Hehehe... thank you so much to my readers **whitneysheree, valeskathesilverwolf, navybee, joyceeluna and minaghostwolf! **There's a lovely surprise in the scene that I hope you all catch! ^_^

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"_I need you safe." Was all he said to her as Meg took her time walking towards the two of them._

"Fine." Jo simply said, agreeing without any protest. They exchanged a wordless glance that clearly told her what exactly Castiel was planning to do.

Keeping her shielded and safe, he drew out his angel sword. Without wasting any time, Meg lunged forward trying to kick his weapon away but wasn't successful; he side-stepped her attack and swung out, slicing a gash in her leg. She cried out in pain but didn't falter, she attempted to hit him again and cut a scratch across his cheek. Castiel retaliated by punching Meg, causing her lip to get cut.

"Give me the girl and I let you live." Meg wheezed as she tried to stand, wiping the blood from her lip.

"No." Castiel replied firmly.

"Why?" She sounded clueless as to Ashley's identity and importance. "She's just some human Clarence, let me have her or I'll kill blondie over here."

"I cannot let you do that. You are not going to hurt Jo again." Castiel understood that Meg was buying time so that she could regain her strength but he wasn't going to let that happen; he hadn't been there to stop the hellhound attack at Carthage, but he was here now.

"Oh yea, and why's that Clarence? Fallen in love with your buddy's girl have you?" Meg taunted, which was something she shouldn't have said because Castiel replied by grabbing the demon roughly and stabbing his sword deep into the side of her stomach.

"Try laying a hand on a hair and you will be dead." He replied calmly, knowing the threat would get her worked up again.

Meg pounced as soon as she saw a possible way to get to Jo, even though she was bleeding, but Castiel caught her mid-way and held the demon by the neck.

"Oh c'mon Clarence, give me one girl at least. The other one okay? You can have blondie... I'll let her live." Meg laughed although she was being choked.

Castiel responded by slamming Meg's head against the wall. "No. You are not going to get Ashley..." He didn't let go of his hold on the demon.

"What is it with this girl?" Meg managed to choke out as Castiel continued to hold his grip on her tightly; she gave up trying to fight him. "You in love with her too Clarence?" She asked him sarcastically.

"Actually, I love Ashley, not Jo, who is like a sister to me." Castiel answered her, sounding bored all of a sudden. He had her pinned to the wall but wasn't attacking her anymore.

"Isn't this the part where you try to kill me?" Meg asked him, wondering why he hadn't killed her yet.

"As much as I want to, I cannot." Castiel replied, stepping back as he left his hold on Meg.

Before she could say anything else, Jo had stepped forward and taking Ruby's knife from Castiel grinned at Meg.

"But I can." Jo finished Castiel's sentence as she took a hold of Meg by the wrist and pulled her close, punched her once, kicked her legs causing the demon to fall flat on the ground and plunged the knife into Meg's heart finally ending her life.

It was over in a matter of seconds; Meg was dead and Virgil, unconscious and trapped by Sophia's barrier downstairs. Castiel stood over the body but moved his gaze when he noticed Jo suddenly slump down by the wall holding her head in her hands. He stared at her for a minute, knowing what she was going through; the past three months hadn't been easy at all on her, he knew that Jo struggled with nightmares almost every night since her attack, something that Dean thought was long over, but perhaps now that she had killed Meg, it would help her get closure.

Castiel waited for a second before walking over to where she sat and struggled for a moment trying to figure out how to help her. In the end, he finally said, "It is over now."

Jo looked up at him and smiled as she took his hand that he had extended to help her stand up, "It really is isn't it?" Something in Jo's voice made Castiel realize that the young hunter found that Meg's death seemed surreal to her.

"Yes, she is dead and cannot hurt you or anyone else anymore." He said reassuringly.

Jo took a deep breath as she held onto Castiel's hand; she felt relieved now that Meg was dead, she was safe now and Dean would have one less thing to worry about.

"That's good." Even though the fight was over, she still could feel the weight of the coming battle and the apocalypse that they had yet to stop. "Did you really mean what you said earlier?" Jo suddenly asked Castiel, not willing her legs to move just yet.

"Yes. We all know you and Dean belong together Jo, he would die ten times for you without blinking his eyes. I care about you just as Sam does, but my love is for Aurora only." He answered her truthfully.

"And I'm sure that she still loves you Cas..." Jo said with a big smile as she decided it was time she let go of the haunting past of the attack.

Just as she got to her feet, she stumbled slightly, but Castiel caught her in his arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, sounding genuinely concerned, hoping that she hadn't hurt herself.

"I'm fine, thanks." The young hunter looked up at the angel and for a moment she thought she saw something else in his eyes other than worry; he looked... happy?

That was when Jo realized why Castiel seemed happy, she had thanked him. All these times in the whole year and a half since they had known him, Jo could barely remember an incident where he hadn't saved her, Sam or Dean from trouble and none of them had genuinely appreciated that unending devotion to protect them all. Her heart sank at that; Castiel had not only sacrificed so much to keep everyone safe, he had also been living with a broken heart since so many long years. Why was it so hard for either of them to show a bit more of kindness to the angel?

"Jo?" Castiel's voice broke through her chain of thoughts. "Is everything okay?" He asked her again.

At this Jo couldn't help but smile a bit more widely than normal; she was perfectly fine and Castiel was the one who wasn't all fine but yet he was the one asking her if she was alright. Instead of saying anything, Jo stepped forward, closer to Castiel and simply put her arms around him as she gave him a hug. It wasn't much and probably not enough to make up for every time he had saved one of them but for now, it was a start.

"Everything's fine Cas. I just wanted to tell you thanks for saving my life again." She told him as she stepped away and saw that part of his usual stoic nature began to crack.

The angel was at a loss of words, no one had ever done anything so simple as giving him a hug before. He didn't know what to do or what to say. 'You're welcome' somehow didn't seem to be enough so Castiel stayed silent; he just nodded his head once curtly. Still smiling, she followed him as he headed for Sophia's room to check on Ashley, but before they reached the room, a loud noise from downstairs alerted them.

"Did you hear that? It sounds..." Jo started to say but stopped when she heard loud voices coming from below. "What is that?" She strained to see if she could hear anything, "It's Dean!" Jo exclaimed happily as she recognized his voice, "But what's going on?"

She and Castiel exchanged a confused look. "I do not know." He said to her, equally puzzled.

"We better go and see what's going on... it doesn't sound too good." The worry in Jo's voice was clear, she wanted to know what had happened.

"Yes. You go ahead, I will check on Ashley and will join you downstairs in a minute." Castiel urged Jo, he knew that she couldn't wait longer but he had to make sure that Ashley was fine too.

"Okay, but hurry." Jo told him as she sheathed Ruby's knife and headed across the corridor towards the staircase.

As soon as he saw Jo leave, Castiel turned to the door he stood in front of – Sophia's bedroom. Without any hesitance he opened the door carefully without making any noise and stepped inside the room. Castiel paid no attention to the surroundings instead his eyes frantically searched for Ashley and when his gaze met her sleeping figure on the bed, he let out a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding.

He made his way towards the bed and knelt down on one knee next to the bed and gazed at Ashley with such longing that his heart began to shatter as he slowly ran a hand down her arm before entwining their hands together. He stayed there, watching her sleep, her gentle breathing and her face that glowed even in the dark; she was free from the horrors of having to relive her death.

"I swear upon our bond..." Castiel whispered to her, "We shall avenge your death and together we will defeat Michael and Raphael." Holding her hand to his lips, he kissed it gently but never let go of his hold.

Some minutes passed by, Castiel was sure of that, but he didn't know how long it really had been since he had left Jo to go and see what the commotion had been. He didn't feel like leaving Ashley here alone, but knew that it would still be a while before she woke up. And after all, there was no chance that she was having any more nightmarish visions, she was safe.

"We will be together again, Aurora. I love you." Getting up, Castiel finally let go of her hand and bent down to place a soft kiss on her lips before turning to leave.

As soon as Castiel had left, unbeknownst to him, Ashley's sleeping form started to stir; her fingers twitched even though her eyes remained closed as she still stayed in her unconscious and presumably dreamless sleep. Or so Castiel hoped had happened when he placed the spell on Ashley; but the thing about angel's is that like humans, when they do sleep, they always end up dreaming even if they are not meant to.

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Interesting ending wasn't it? And Cas finally got his well-deserved and well-earned hug after all didn't he? Reviews please! ^_^


	40. Chapter 40

Ooo more reviews again! 8 this time... awesome! Thanks to my readers **whitneysheree, valeskathwsilverwolf, navybee, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, were-girl19, joyceeluna and minaghostwolf **for the amazing positive feedback! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **Forgot this last chapter. Instead of wanting to own either of J2M, can they own me? Hehehe... ^_^

**A/N: **Brace yourselves everyone! This chapter has the biggest of the biggest cliffhangers in the history of cliffhangers! No kidding... You've been warned!

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_Aurora found herself standing inside the garden, by the fountain waiting for someone. A few minutes passed by and she suddenly saw Zachariah emerging from nowhere. He looked grim and serious as if something big was weighing him down._

"_Zachariah, this is a pleasant surprise." Aurora greeted him as he approached her. She was not surprised at all, there wasn't a lot of time left; she had to get back to Earth to the hospital where Sophia and the patient were waiting for her._

"_Aurora." Zachariah said as he acknowledged her. "Good to see you back in Heaven, you've been busy downstairs haven't you?" It was more of an accusation than a question._

"_Yes. I have been following my orders from Michael and am keeping my charge safe." Aurora replied calmly._

_At this, Zachariah looked disappointed and upset. "Yes well, the orders were to keep your charge safe not to develop a close bond with her. Michael is not pleased Aurora..." He shook his head as if he didn't approve of it either. _

"_What?" Hearing Zachariah say that had caught her off-guard, Michael was disappointed with her? She had done only what he had told her to do. Protect her charge and make sure no harm comes to her._

"_Yes I am terribly sorry but you have betrayed his trust Aurora. You have betrayed us. Now you must be brought to justice." Zachariah spoke softly and calmly as he slid out his angel sword._

"_No. I did not betray you." Aurora was scared now, this was not what she had expected to happen. She had to go back right now._

"_Yes you did. Michael found out about your plan and he cannot let you go through with it. It interferes with the whole grand plan that he has spent so long in preparing. I will not let anything come in the way of damaging it." He moved closer to her, raising the sword._

"_Don't do this Zachariah, you don't have to kill me..." Aurora tried to reason with him as she mentally scolded herself for leaving her sword with Sophia. She hadn't thought she would need it._

_She had hoped that she would meet Castiel here and tell him everything that she had been doing for the past few years; now that they knew they belonged with each other Aurora did not want to keep anything from him and wanted to explain it all before their bonding. Now, things weren't looking too good for her._

"_Yes I do. It's the only way. I am sorry Aurora but we can't have you destroying the plan. You can't let the child be born, it has to die and so do you." Zachariah was barely a few feet away from her now._

"_There's always another way..."Aurora whispered as she tried to think of a way to fight him off._

"_The only other way is if you surrender yourself over to Michael and let us take care of Castiel." _

"_Leave him out of this!" Aurora's fear turned to anger when she heard Zachariah threaten Castiel, "He knows nothing of my plans. Do not drag him into this mess." _

"_Surrender and I'll try to make sure Michael and Raphael go gentle on him. They won't believe that he hasn't helped you in all of this, after all, you are his soul-mate aren't you?" Zachariah smiled as he knew that Aurora was telling the truth, Castiel was a clueless warrior angel who did as he was told and stayed out of the other angels' issues and right now, thanks to Uriel's help, Castiel was busy at training more soldiers._

"_I'll never surrender and I won't let you hurt Castiel." Aurora was firm in her decision, she knew that Zachariah wouldn't harm Castiel once she was gone. She had to think quickly, Sophia had to come here now, it was the only way that she would get out of here alive._

"_Well if that's your decision then I truly regret having to do this." Zachariah clearly was lying and Aurora knew it._

"_No you don't." She called his lie as soon as she saw Sophia appear suddenly and quietly behind Zachariah._

"_Okay fine I don't regret having to kill you. There. Are you happy I was truthful?" Zachariah asked sarcastically._

"_Very." It was then did Aurora smile even as she felt the sword cut through her skin and her life began to slip away from her. _

_Darkness began to envelop all around; cold and black shadows surrounded her and she welcomed it, knowing that she would see the light again one day. Aurora could feel it now, a voice calling to her, telling her that it was time. She had to wake up and return to the world once more._

Downstairs in Sophia's hall, Castiel and Jo had arrived there to find that Dean had returned with Balthazar and no Crowley, but Dean was arguing about something with Sam who wasn't listening to what his brother had to say.

"I thought we already went through this Dean." Sam was telling Dean, "You can't lie to Death and you're definitely not calling Michael again. After what happened last time, he'll fry you if he takes over your body." Sam didn't want Dean to go through this idiotic plan again and didn't understand why his brother was on a suicide mission.

"I don't care Sammy, we have to do it this way. Michael has to fight Lucifer and send him back to his cage, I'm not gonna let that son of a bitch wear you to prom and kill you." Dean tried to retaliate, he wondered if he shouldn't have said anything.

"We'll think of another way Dean. This isn't suicide anymore, its madness!" Sam sounded angry.

"Yea well the only other way is if we let Ashley fight the devil and while she may be an angel and all, right now she's lying unconscious after being mentally attacked by Michael. I'm not going to put her through hell again. She's died once already and that's enough." With a grunt, Dean decided he wasn't going to waste more time arguing with Sam and get on with his plan.

"So have you Dean. You've gone to hell and come back again. Why won't you let us find another way out?" Sam tried to understand Dean's weird obsession with keeping Ashley safe but didn't get his brother. He too cared about Ashley a lot, but being an angel already gave her an advantage that neither he nor Dean had.

"Because there is no other way Sammy! I have the rings, I know what to do. Its either me or Ashley and I choose me." Dean was adamant now, he was going to protect Ashley no matter the cost.

"Well then if you're going to call Michael then I guess that leaves me no choice but to say yes myself." Sam said to Dean bluntly. His brother may be the older one, but Sam knew he could be more stubborn if he wanted to.

"What do you mean by that Sammy?" Dean knew what Sam was trying to do but it wasn't going to work, his mind was made up and nothing would change that.

"You know what I mean..." Sam left his sentence hanging, not wanting to finish it.

"Stop it! Stop this both of you!" Sophia shouted as she finally decided that someone had to put some sense into both the brothers. "No one is going to say yes to anyone, Aurora is powerful enough to fight Lucifer and I cast a spell of awakening earlier, she should regain consciousness soon and her memories will return too."

"That doesn't mean she has to fight Lucifer." Dean started to say.

"Yes it does Dean, she is the one who is going to kill the devil." Sophia stopped Dean's rant.

"Really? Give me one good reason why we should sit by and not do anything while we let Ashley do everything?" Dean turned away from Sam to face Sophia and waited for an answer.

The answer did come then, but it wasn't from Sophia. Another voice from somewhere near them spoke up.

"_**Because it would kill me to see my brothers fighting till the death."**_

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For those who are still in a condition to reply, please review... to those who are not... try to review? ^_^


	41. Chapter 41

Glad to see everyone survived the last cliffhanger! That was the biggest I had! Thanks to my readers **whitneysheree, valeskathwsilverwolf, navybee, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, were-girl19, joyceeluna, iloveleopards200 and minaghostwolf **for the amazing positive feedback in spite of the huge cliffy! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **This chapter has a shout out to one my fav shows, Firefly! I own nothing! ^_^

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Immediately eight pairs of eyes turned towards the staircase where they were sure the person who had spoken was standing. And surely, up on the landing was a woman who was watching everything that was going on with a smile playing on her lips. She was wearing a ankle-length pearly white dress and there was something about the way she held herself that made the others think that she looked familiar to them, almost like...

"_Mom?_" Dean and Sam's voices simultaneously broke the silence that had fallen across the entire house. They were staring at the figure of the woman on the stairs so intently that nothing else was being processed in their minds.

"_Mary?_" Bobby too, was stunned on seeing the woman there and believed that she looked like his late friend John Winchester's late wife, Mary Winchester.

They all stood their ground, waiting for some sort of explanation as to why they were seeing this woman standing in Sophia's house looking like Mary. Was she a spirit? For her part, she just stood there, continuing to smile even after hearing Sam, Dean and Bobby address her as Mary Winchester.

"She said _brothers _not _sons_ you know." Balthazar chimed in, breaking the monotonous silence that was getting annoyingly high.

It took another minute for the three hunters to realize what Balthazar had said and then it hit them. The woman standing on the staircase who they claimed to be Mary wasn't her at all, nor was it her ghost or anything, it was someone else entirely, someone they had been with for the past few days and had grown close to.

"Ashley." Dean's voice sounded shocked as he was the first one to understand the truth. He looked back up at her and saw her nod slowly in agreement.

"Aurora." Castiel spoke up at last. He had been gazing at her without blinking ever since he heard her voice. There was no mistaking her to be anyone else but his Aurora.

On hearing her name, the woman finally moved her eyes to meet Castiel's and she smiled even more brightly when she saw him standing there staring at her as if she were a goddess. She still did not speak, but slowly started to descend the staircase and as her graceful movements brought her closer to them, everyone realized that this was indeed the woman they had spent their last few days with; protecting her from Alistair, Michael, Raphael, Meg and Virgil. Only now, Ashley didn't look anything like she had on the night they had met her.

The lady in front of them had wavy long blonde hair which she wore down, it reached just below her shoulders; Ashley had always kept it tied up in a ponytail or a messy bun. And then there were her eyes that gave her away; Aurora had discarded the lenses and everyone could see that her eyes were a lovely whirlpool of sea blue and lavender. The way she walked was also different; there was a sense of elegant beauty and charm to her step that made her seem graceful like Sophia and yet she possessed an air of simplicity and maturity that made her unique. Just as she was about to reach the foot of the staircase, she swayed slightly and before anyone had blinked, Dean and Castiel both rushed to steady her, taking a hold of each arm, they managed to help her stand.

"Are you alright?" Dean asked her, looking worriedly at Ashley... or was she Aurora? He didn't know what to call her anymore.

"Yes. I'm fine." It was the first words she spoke after making her earlier statement. There it was again, her voice held a soft luscious tone to it.

She met Dean's gaze and smiled at him as he and Castiel helped her down the last few steps where she finally looked up at everyone else, searching for someone. It was only at the end did she find who she was looking for and immediately she felt Castiel and Dean's hands leave hers as Sophia rushed forward to hug the the younger girl, almost on the verge of tears.

"Aurora, you're awake! It is like a miracle to see you again!" Sophia was ecstatic to be holding her dear friend after so many years.

"It is good to see you too Sophia." Aurora replied happily as she hugged Sophia back, though she sounded more calmer than the archangel.

As soon as Sophia left Aurora, Balthazar took her place and bent down to hug Aurora as well. He was too overjoyed to care that he was in fact crying tears of happiness as he held onto her petite form.

"I've missed you so much..." He said to her, as he continued to hold on to Aurora, not wanting to let go because he thought that she would leave him again.

It was surprising for everyone standing there to see Balthazar in such a different light, he clearly cared for Aurora more than they had thought. His barriers seemed to have broken down the minute he laid eyes on her.

"And I have missed you too..." Aurora smiled brightly as she stood on her toes to place a tiny kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry Balthazar... I..." She started to speak but he cut her off.

"No. Don't. I know why you did it, or well I think I do... but you don't ever have to say sorry to me, remember that I'll always love you _mei-mei_." Balthazar gently kissed her forehead and finally stepped back.

Aurora then turned towards Dean, Sam, Ellen, Jo and Bobby who were all watching her, mystified. None of them had said a word as they stood watching the reunion. Now, she made her way to Dean, placed her hand on top of his and met his eyes.

"Dean... I can't thank you enough for saving me that night from those hellhounds. You and Sam have protected me for so long and..." For the second time in minutes, Aurora was stopped mid-way.

"You're family... Aurora..." Dean said as he held her mouth closed with one hand, "And apparently we're your _brothers_?" He asked her, still shaken by those words. He didn't understand them and didn't know if they were true or not.

"Ah, yes. I believe I have a lot of explaining to do. Apparently there are many questions that need answering?" She asked them all casually as she smiled again.

"Yes." Sam replied as he finally got over the shock of seeing Aurora there and mistaking her to be Mary. "There's one thing I'd like to know first, why exactly did Sophia not tell us anything about you?" He hadn't heard the angels' conversation earlier, but had a feeling he was going to find out about the truth.

"Let her sit down first, boy!" Bobby yelled at Sam before turning to face Aurora. To him, she was an angel, but she was also a young woman and that meant his fatherly instincts were kicking in.

"Right. Sorry about that..." Sam looked away, wondering why it was so hard for him to process what Aurora had just said, she had called him and Dean her brothers!

"Its alright Bobby, I'm fine. Thank you." Aurora smiled warmly at the older hunter, she had gotten attached to him over the past few days but it was more of an unspoken level of comfort of a father-daughter relationship that they had with each other.

But Dean wasn't going to listen to her protests and taking her hand in his, he led her towards one of the sofa's where she sat down. It was only then did the others take their seats around her, Balthazar and Sophia were the only ones who stood behind her as if they were her guardians. Castiel, who had been standing silently all this while, was about to move away, but a light tug on his hand from Aurora stopped him. He turned to her once again and without saying anything sat down beside her, not leaving her hand.

"Well I think it's best if I explain why exactly Sophia wasn't allowed to say anything to anyone." Aurora began to speak, not really noticing that everyone was already entranced by her voice, "The day before the... _incident_ happened, I... I had this feeling that everything wasn't fine; there was something bothering me in the back of my mind. I believed that whatever it was had something to do with my mission, so I made Sophia take a swear on our bond that whatever happened to me, no matter how things went from that point, she was not to reveal our plan to anyone." She finished the first part of her explanation.

"Hang on," Jo began to say, "Your bond? With Sophia?" She sounded confused. This was something new and unexpected to all of them.

"I thought you're bonded to Cas?" Dean asked Aurora, looking at her with a curious expression on his face. "You're not bound to Balthazar in _that_ way are you?" He suddenly asked, not knowing how this bonding with angels worked. Dean raised an eyebrow at the other two angels.

"God! No Dean..." Aurora exclaimed as she tried to stop a giggle, "When I say I was bound to another angel, it has an entirely different meaning. Castiel is my soul-mate, but Sophia and Balthazar are my siblings, for all intents and purposes, they have been my brother and sister for a very long time now." She answered him.

"Wait. What?" Dean sounded like he hadn't heard Aurora's last words. "Balthazar and Sophia are your _brother and sister?_" The whole idea seemed incredulous to him.

"Being Aurora, Balthazar and Sophia are indeed my brother and sister, but since I am Ashley as well, it means that you and Sam are my brothers too." Aurora tried to explain the situation to everyone.

"You mean to say that Aurora has a brother and a sister while Ashley has two brothers?" Ellen tried to make sense of what she had just heard.

"But she is Aurora and Ashley!" Bobby continued Ellen's unsaid sentence, "So you're two people in one body and you have four siblings?" He clearly did not find this amusing.

"When you put it that way, technically yes." Aurora calmly replied, affirming his statement.

"And just how are we your brothers?" Sam raised the question to Aurora. It was one they all had been waiting to hear the answer to. "Are you our step-sister like Adam was our step-brother? Does that mean that Dad..." He couldn't finish his sentence.

"No Sam. When I say that I am your sister and you are my brothers, I mean it in the real sense of the word." Aurora said to him.

"Whoa!" Dean exclaimed and was about to comment on that but Aurora held up a hand, telling him to wait until she was done answering.

"My name on the birth certificate is recorded as Ashley Collins, but it is not who I really am. You see, the truth is that I was in danger even after being born again, which is why Sophia made sure that I was adopted. It was a big risk for all of us to take, but in the end, it had to be done." She seemed to be finished now and waited for someone to speak up.

"So... that means what exactly?" Sam asked Aurora, looking suspiciously at her, none of this made sense to him. "If you were adopted by the Collins', then how does that make you our sister?" The answer was right there, in front of him and Dean, but they weren't looking at it.

Aurora waited for a whole minute before taking a deep breath to answer him, it was obvious, but she knew she had to tell them the truth herself.

"I am your sister because I was born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1981. Two years after Dean was born, two years before you were born Sam. My parents were John and Mary Winchester and my birth name is Ashley Winchester."

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Cool ending right? Hahahaha... reviews? ^_^

**A/N: **I am not 100% sure if I can put the next update tomorrow. This week looks more hectic than last. I have a competition to enter for the 12th, plus a few other things to deal with in college so I don't know when I'll have time to write. But never fear! I won't delay the next chapter for more than 3 days! Sorry everyone!


	42. Chapter 42

I sincerely apologize for the long delay! It has been a really long week... had an assignment to complete plus a competition to prepare for (which I won!) and on top of that I was a little unwell over the weekend (perfectly fine now!), but don't worry, the update is long, filled with answers and a little confusion so feel free to ask as many questions as you like!

To my readers: **Whitneysheree, valeskathesilverwolf, navybee, joyceeluna, were-girl19, xxkissesandcuddlesxx and minaghostwolf!** Here's hoping you all are still here for me! Hehe... just kidding! Enjoy! ^_^

**A/N: **Special mention to **Navybee** for pointing out the tiny mistake in the birth year's. Dean is born in 1979, Aurora in 1981 and Sam in 1983. Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Yet.

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Every single living person sitting in that room was stunned to silence. Balthazar, Castiel, Dean, Sam, Jo, Ellen and Bobby were all rendered speechless. Nothing was being processed in their minds anymore, the shock was much too surprising for them to comprehend anything else. Only Sophia stood where she was, watching the others' expressions and reactions, she was the sole person apart from Aurora who knew the whole truth since she was the one who had saved Aurora from dying that fateful day.

It seemed as if an hour had passed by when the mood around Aurora seemed to change slightly, even though it wasn't more than several extremely prolonged minutes. This time, it was Balthazar who regained his senses first, Castiel on the other hand was still sitting next to Aurora, holding her hand and staring at her with his eyes wide open, this was not what he had expected to hear from her.

"You... you're Ashley _Winchester_?" Balthazar's voice was filled with pure amazement. "As in John and Mary Winchester's daughter?" He questioned. "How in heaven's name did you end up possessing their daughter when they never even had one!" He was quite shocked, but still managed to ask the most crucial question of them all.

"I'm pretty sure if we had a sister, we'd have known about it." Dean spoke up, still unsure of whether or not he could form his thoughts into coherent words. "And like you said, I was already born when you were and I sure as hell don't remember anything about having a sister!" He exclaimed, there was no anger in his voice. Yet.

"Can you prove it?" Sam asked her suddenly. There was a huge part of him that believed all this was a joke of some kind, but the tiny part that felt it was real was starting to overpower his emotions.

Aurora waited patiently, to see if anyone else had anything to add to Dean, Sam and Balthazar's comments, but after a minute passed by in silence, she took a deep breath and answered their questions.

"Yes. I am John and Mary Winchester's daughter and I can prove it as well." She told everyone. "Sophia, do you have the copy of my birth certificate?" The two angels exchanged a silent glance which spoke many words.

"Yes I still have your whole file with me." Sophia replied, "They're inside the library, I'll go and get them." She started to make her way upstairs but was stopped all of a sudden when a hand reached out and grabbed hers.

"Hold on a sec." It was Dean, he had realized that Sophia was talking about the files that he had asked Bobby and Ellen to find for him. This was the one thing they had been dreading, Sophia finding out.

"What is it Dean?" Sophia asked him, looking at him with a curious expression. She didn't appear to be suspicious of him.

"The thing is, I already took a look at those files. Sort of." He spilled, "Okay so I couldn't break the enochian codes on them, but I managed to get them out of the safe." Dean was confessing, but he wasn't going to drag in Ellen and Bobby's names.

Sophia met Dean's gaze and he realized that he still had her hand in his; letting go of it immediately, he ran his hand through his hair, trying to shake off the feelings he was getting from staring too long at Sophia, her powers always seemed to affect him the quickest.

"Well... I can't say that I'm surprised." Sophia finally commented, smiling brightly as she tried not to laugh. "I was expecting something of the kind, and don't worry Dean, I understand why you did it... so I'm not going to do anything... yet." Finally letting her laughter out, she headed upstairs leaving Dean and the others amazed.

"Okay... what was that?" Dean raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at Balthazar and Castiel, hoping to try and see if they could explain what had just happened. "She didn't even sound mad, I went through her safe and all I get is a laugh?" He was puzzled.

Balthazar and Castiel merely shrugged, they seemed to know something but weren't about to tell Dean anything.

"Dean..." Sam placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, "I think we should think about that a little later. Maybe Sophia wants to get this over with and then she'll have her say about what you did."

"Right. And this, would be the fact that we have an angel for a sister." Dean couldn't help himself from smiling as the words left his lips.

It was a bizarre situation indeed but knowing that Aurora was really family made sense to him. And Dean knew that Sam was thinking the same thing because everything about their behavior towards Aurora when they believed she was Ashley, their feelings of over-protectiveness, caring for her, doing whatever it took to keep her safe, all were signs which proved one thing – their feelings for her were exactly the same that they had for each other and the others, feelings of being a part of the family. And in Aurora's case, she seemed to really be family.

"Dean!" Jo sounded surprised at how lightly he seemed to be handling things, "This isn't the time to be saying things like that." She wasn't trying to argue with him but wanted to make sure he took this new development a little more seriously.

"Alright." Dean sat back down next to Aurora and did what he always did best, try to get to the bottom of things. "I don't know how to ask this in the least possible rude sounding way Aurora but... why did you choose to possess our sister?" He believed that it was a start, a question that would lead to hopefully all their answers.

"A little more subtlety next time Dean..." Sam told his brother, shaking his head as he too sat down in front of Aurora.

"Its fine Sam, I'm guessing that Dean has always been like this hasn't he?" Aurora was really something different; nothing seemed to affect her as much as everyone thought it should.

"You have no idea..." Bobby commented with a huff; he and Ellen were still not relaxed, part of being a hunter was that they were always on alert for anything, but Aurora's presence was calming to him and everyone else too.

At Bobby's comment everyone laughed a little, causing Dean to shoot Sam a very dangerous look, "Very hilarious Sammy." He said to his younger brother, "Can we get back to being serious now?" Dean was amazed at how everyone around him started to get so laid back only when he decided to become serious.

"Yes, let's." Castiel finally spoke up. He too was keen on hearing Aurora's explanation for everything that had happened.

In the moment of silence that passed before she spoke again, Aurora exchanged a glance with Castiel, both of them wondering if they could communicate everything that they were feeling with one look. There was so much that they needed to talk about. Alone. But now was not the right time for it; Castiel knew that Aurora was waiting for a chance when they could be together and finally be able to... just be with each other. That was all they wanted for now. But in the meantime, it was Aurora's turn to speak to all of them.

"You asked me why I chose to possess your sister didn't you?" Aurora repeated Dean's question, a sudden sad look crossing her face. "The answer to that question Dean, is that I didn't." Aurora replied before he had had a chance to say anything. "I never intended to take Ashley as my vessel because that was not part of the plan at all, you see... Ashley wasn't supposed to be born at all." She continued with her story.

"What do you mean by you... Ashley... wasn't meant to be born _at all_?" Ellen cut short Aurora's explanation, she sounded confused.

"I mean that John and Mary should have had only 2 children, two boys to be precise. The birth of a third child and that too a girl was a hinderance to the plan. I am referring to the _grand_ plan that the angels came up with." Aurora's voice was sarcastic and filled with hate.

"So you were part of that plan?" Sam asked Aurora, not sure how he felt about knowing that she had a hand in this.

"I was. At first." She answered truthfully, but with a sigh she went on, "My job was very simple and I was going through with it without questioning any of my superiors for a long time but..." Her voice trailed off as she felt herself getting drawn to her past memories.

"But what?" Dean's voice softly broke through Aurora's thoughts. He knew something was wrong.

"But... I got carried away... got too attached to my charge." She told him, sadness fell over her eyes as she spoke. "To your mother." Aurora added.

"You were Mary Winchester's guardian?" The surprised voice of Castiel suddenly interrupted Aurora's narration.

"Yes. She was. I say Mary because I was more of a friend to her than a daughter. More than 30 years ago I came to Earth and possessed one of her friend's Amy. My duty was to be with her at all times, protect her without telling her who I really was... and playing a role in making her meet John..." Aurora smiled as a happy memory resurfaced, one of the few joyous ones.

"You helped in making our parent's meet?" Sam was taken by surprise when he heard Aurora's words. "What changed?" He needed to know where things took a different turn, it was time to speed Aurora's narration a bit more.

"What changed was the fact that I realized, maybe too late or too soon, I'll never know, that it was wrong of Michael and Raphael to go to any lengths to keep the plan on the right track." Aurora answered Sam, her anger returning again, "What I mean by that is I was there with John and Mary when Dean was born, and I was supposed to be with them until Sam's birth but when Mary was pregnant for the second time and knew she was going to have a girl... that's when everything changed." She took a deep breath to steady herself and continued, "I... I don't know if Michael was behind the idea but Uriel ordered me to... to make sure that I did whatever it took to keep the child from being born."

Everyone in the room fell quiet all of a sudden, no one had noticed that Aurora was getting affected by telling her story. Her hands were trembling now, but whatever she tried to do to calm herself, it wasn't working. Just then, she felt a rush of warmth filling her fingers and she glanced up to see that Castiel was holding both her hands in his, conveying to her in one silent gesture that he was there for her. The two of them met each others eyes and Aurora smiled once more.

"What did you do then?" It was Jo who spoke up this time; she knew that Dean and Sam were focusing all of their attention on Aurora, both of them having laid a hand on top of her tiny ones that still held on to Castiel's.

"I did what I should have done a long time before that... I disobeyed my orders. Sophia had played her part by assigning me to Mary... and indirectly John... and that was that. But when I told her about what I had to do, she took it upon her to make sure that nothing would happen to the child. To me." Aurora felt better now, knowing that she wasn't alone anymore. "When I returned to Mary after receiving my orders from Uriel, I confessed everything that I had done in the past four years to her. I told her that I was an angel and the reason I was there with her. And that I was supposed to... get rid of her daughter but wasn't going to go through with it."

"How did she take it?" Dean suddenly wanted to know if his parent's always knew about angels and their existence. Why would they have not said anything to him or Sam?

"She believed me very quickly, all I had to do was prove to her that I was an angel and that was that. Mary was a hunter for almost her entire life and knew that if Demons could exist and walk the Earth then so could Angels." Aurora recalled the memory of that day, it was so very long ago and yet still so fresh in her mind that it seemed as if it was only yesterday that she was telling Mary about who she really was.

"And then? What happened next?" Dean was suddenly the one who was getting impatient, eager to know more.

"Well... after that, it was decided that the only way to keep the baby safe was to have her adopted. We were to do it secretly, with Sophia's help. But again... everything went wrong." Just like a few minutes ago, Aurora struggled with trying to find the right words to go on.

"What do you mean everything went wrong?" Sam didn't understand what Aurora was talking about. "It worked didn't it? You saved Ashley's life _and _you've taken her as your vessel to keep her safe haven't you? I mean... as long as she's alive in there its all good isn't it?" Sam didn't realize that he had just spoken the very thing that Aurora had been dreading to speak of, let alone think about.

Aurora's grip on Castiel's hands tightened as she took a deep breath to focus her thoughts properly; it wasn't only about telling everyone present in the room about the truth anymore, this was something that she was doing for herself as well. Too long she lived with the burden of the truth inside her, even if she didn't remember it till only now, it was still there with her, still a part of her.

"Aurora...?" This time it was Balthazar who noticed something was wrong with Aurora.

Part of being bonded to her allowed him to see what others couldn't notice at first glance, there was something in Sam's words that had affected her a lot and before he knew it, Balthazar had come forward to Aurora and after a quick silent exchange with Castiel, he slowly placed his finger under her chin and made her look at him.

"What is it Aurora?" Balthazar's soft voice broke through her barrier as he started to take in the entire bevy of emotions that were flooding her mind, it was a complicated part of the bond but somehow, they were able to feel each other's emotions clearly.

"I... umm... the thing is..." She was hesitant to go on with her story now, and was no longer looking at either Dean or Sam. But she knew there was no going back. "I didn't really save Ashley... in every sense... I... I can't... leave her." Aurora was suddenly a different person. No longer did she have the glowing cheerfulness lighting up her face. There was in its place, a look filled with guilt and sadness.

"You can't leave her? Ashley?" Balthazar was slowly trying to get Aurora to reveal the truth to all of them. "Why not?" He asked her after seeing a nod.

"Because... I... she... she isn't alive... Balthazar... I... I'm the only thing that's keeping her alive because I am Ashley. There isn't anyone else... in here..." The words were out of her mouth before she could do anything.

A gasp of breaths from everyone in the room made Aurora realize that she had been in a daze and had forgotten that the others were listening to her. But Balthazar paid no heed to the shock that rippled through everyone else.

"When you say there's no one else you mean...?" He left his sentence hanging there, hoping that she would confirm his suspicions, for he knew what she was talking about now.

"No soul." Aurora replied softly.

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**Looooong update! Cliffhanger too! Reviews too? ^_^**

**A/N (Again): **I was going to have Castiel in Balthazar's place at the end, but I didn't for 2 reasons: one, he wasn't officially bonded to Aurora like Sophia and Balthazar are so the whole 'feeling her emotions' thingy doesn't work as strong as it should, he too can feel what she feels cause they're soul-mates and all... but... you get the point right? And two, I'm saving their scenes to be better and hopefully more intimate when they're alone!


	43. Chapter 43

A very big **Thank You! **to my wonderful readers: **Whitneysheree, valeskathesilverwolf, navybee, joyceeluna, minaghostwolf and xxkisssesandcuddlesxx** along with **2 **new ones: **Black silver roses **and** moonpiegirl!** There's a lovely twist in the end of today's chapter! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I am a SNoB (Supernatural Obsessed) Fan, A Potterhead, A Twi-Hard, Mutant and Proud and yet I own nothing! Except for my fanfic's!

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Oddly enough, this time no one was really shocked into falling silent but neither did they say anything about what they had just heard; Ellen had dropped down onto one of the sofa's next to Jo her eyes wide with surprise, Bobby's gun had slipped slightly from his hand as he lost the need to be alert while Jo, Sam and Dean were all staring numbly at the angels. The only person who wasn't the most affected by this was Castiel who still hadn't let go of Aurora's hands, on the contrary, he had tightened his grip on her as soon as the words had left her lips. Balthazar was still kneeling in front of her, gazing into her eyes that were filled with immense pain and sadness.

"What do you mean by 'no soul'?" Dean's voice, cold and emotionless suddenly broke everyone's trance.

"It means that Ashley died before Aurora could possess her." A voice, not Aurora's spoke up from somewhere behind them.

Dean and Sam turned around to see Sophia coming down the staircase, watching them with a firm look; she held one of the three files that Bobby and Ellen had found in the library.

"How?" Sam asked Sophia, somehow knowing that this next part of the story would be answered by the archangel and not Aurora.

"I do not know for sure what went wrong, it seemed as if it was a coincidence but it could have been Zachariah or Raphael's doing." Sophia started to tell them her part of the story as she sat down next to Castiel.

"What was a coincidence?" Dean didn't understand what Sophia was trying to tell them. But he needed answers, and he needed them now.

"There was a complication with Mary's pregnancy," Sophia replied to him with a heavy sigh, "The baby was weak, her chances of survival were minimal and there was very little that I could do to help keep both Mary and the child safe. And since our duty was to make sure that nothing happened to your mother, Aurora and I decided to wait and see what would happen towards the last month." She confessed to them, knowing that she was taking over for Aurora at the moment and feeling glad that she too had a chance to relieve herself of the long burden on her shoulders.

"And what happened in the last month?" This time it was Sam who spoke up. Like Dean, he was confused now; he didn't know if he should be angry at Sophia and Aurora over what he had just learned or grateful that however it happened, they still had a sister.

"The baby started showing signs of not surviving till delivery, Mary wanted to deliver the child prematurely but the risk was still too high." Sophia went on with her narration, "It was she who came up with the idea to have Ashley possess the child, Mary wanted her daughter to live." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "We agreed that if there was no other choice then with Mary's permission, Aurora would be able to take the child as her vessel... but..." Sophia hesitated.

"But... Aurora was attacked by Zachariah..." Dean finished Sophia's incomplete sentence as a wave of anger and sadness flooded through him. He glanced up at Aurora who was still quiet and knew then and there that no matter what had happened, he could never be angry with her. Ever.

"Yes. But thankfully I was able to get to Aurora in time. It was hard because not only was she dying in Heaven, but because Mary had gone into labor that very day. A strange occurrence I believe. The baby didn't survive the delivery but... through a very complex and dangerous enchantment, I was able to make Aurora possess the child, her soul transferred into the baby while her body was left in Heaven so that no one would know that she was still alive." With that, Sophia fell silent.

For a few minutes, no one spoke up. It was taking a while for everything that they all had just heard, to sink in. And when someone did speak this time, it was Sam.

"So let's get one thing straight," He began to say, "Aurora died and so did Ashley, but to keep both of them alive, you had Aurora take over Ashley's body?" It all sounding very complicated but he was managing to keep himself in control.

"If you put it that way, then it does sound a little simpler." Sophia answered him. "But remember, Ashley is alive only in body, everything else is Aurora."

"I get it. Its similar to what Ruby did the second time around; she possessed the body of a dead woman." Sam wasn't too pleased whenever he remembered Ruby and what had happened last year as a result of being involved with the demon, if he could even call it that.

"Yes, I guess you could say that both the situations are alike." Sophia agreed with Sam's theory even though she knew nothing of last year's events. Not that it mattered anymore.

"Okay... one last thing, how exactly did the two of you manage to go through with everything without Balthazar or Cas finding out?" Sam asked Aurora and Sophia, "I mean, you could have used the help right?" He knew that there was something that was being left out.

For the first time since Sophia came down, Aurora's trance broke and she snapped her head to stare at Sam, wondering where he had thought of that from and then turned to face Sophia who had turned very quiet and grim-faced all of a sudden. Aurora knew that it was time she spoke again.

"We had help..." She started to say, causing everyone to switch their attention back to her from Sophia. "There was... another archangel helping us... Cam... Chamuel, the Archangel of Love... he, he was..." But before Aurora could say what else this other archangel was, she was interrupted by Dean.

"Hold on... did you say Archangel of Love?" His eyes grew wide as he remembered something. "Sophia, I thought... don't you have the power of Love?" He asked her.

"She is... but Cam was the first... he was Sophia's soul-mate." Aurora answered Dean's question instead of Sophia who sat next to Castiel with her eyes closed as if in prayer.

"What?" Dean was astonished to hear that, "So wait... that means... if you have his power then..." He couldn't finish the sentence and let it hang.

"Yes." Aurora whispered softly as she realized that Dean already knew the answer to his question.

"Cam was defeated by Raphael in a battle..." Sophia's soft voice suddenly broke through, she sounded much more powerful now, and didn't look broken. "No one believed that it was Michael's plan to thwart our attempts to keep Ashley alive and that included killing one of the most powerful archangels..." She paused for a second before continuing, "But I did not allow my part to be discovered, Michael believed that Cam and Aurora were working together to protect Mary... he never realized that I was the one who dragged Cam into the mess... and after... after he was gone... I went to Michael and offered myself to him... to be the one to take control of Cam's powers... there was no way I would have ever let him pass on the power to anyone else. I told Michael that being his soul-mate, it would be easier for me to maintain a balance between both the abilities and he agreed to my request..." But by then, Sophia's mind had wandered off again, into the past and her voice trailed.

"Michael's a right son of a bitch." Dean growled, "There is no way in hell I'm becoming his meat-suit!" He was extremely angry now and every moment that passed, his hatred for the archangel grew.

"And you won't." Aurora said to Dean, sounding calm once again. She had managed to compose herself and was almost back to how she was earlier.

"I didn't..." Dean started to protest, knowing that he was still adamant on being the one to fight Lucifer.

But Aurora raised a hand and stopped Dean from finishing his sentence; the two of them exchanged a look. They were very much alike in personality and nature, no matter what it took, both Dean and Aurora would make sure that they had their way, and that was going to ultimately complicate things for everyone.

"Not now. We shall discuss this later..." Aurora told him softly. This wasn't the right time to bring up this matter.

Dean nodded his head quietly and turned his attention towards Sophia who was handing over the file to Sam.

"I have unlocked it for you. This file contains only the important documents; Ashley's original birth certificate, the adoption papers, hospital records, its all in there." Sophia's voice was quieter now, barely a whisper.

Sam took the file from Sophia's hand and opening it, removed a couple of documents from within. He scanned every single one of them and when he reached the last one, his face changed as surprise and confusion overtook him. Bobby was paying attention to Sam's movements and noticed the change.

"What is it?" He asked the younger Winchester. "What's in it?" Bobby knew there was yet another thing that had come up, something that was going to probably confuse everyone again.

"Its..." Sam started to say as he held onto that last document, "Its Ashley's adoption papers... it says here that she was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Collins." He read the names out loud.

"We know that already Sammy..." Dean began to say, sounding bored but his brother cut him off.

"Yes, but look at her mother's name." Sam told Dean as he handed the document over to him, and then turned to face Aurora and Sophia who were watching everything quietly.

Dean reached out and took the paper from Sam's hands and glanced at it. Most of the stuff written there was legal clauses and agreements along with Sophia's signature as Dr. Sarah Thomas. But what caught Dean's eye was the name of the woman who adopted Aurora as Ashley.

"Whoa!" His eyes widened as he tried to process what he was reading over and over again. "Does this mean...?" He asked Sophia and Aurora at the same time.

"It does." Sophia answered Dean's unspoken question.

Apart from Sam, no one else in the room understood what Dean and Sophia were talking about, that is, until Jo snatched the paper from Dean's hands and read what was written there.

"It says here that Ashley was adopted by Mr. Henry Collins and... Mrs. Amy Collins." She read the names out loud for the others to hear. "Amy... as in the same Amy that Aurora possessed?" Jo was sure things could not have gotten more complicated.

"Yes. The same Amy." Aurora replied. "I left her body just before going to Heaven to meet Zachariah and after I was born as Ashley, the real Amy came forward to adopt me. She knew everything about us being angels and the danger we all faced. It was unexpected but a lucky thing that she was the one to protect me." She explained to everyone.

"So you're adoptive mother knows who you really are?" Sam asked Aurora.

"Knew." Aurora corrected Sam with a bittersweet, sad tone. "They died... my parents... and my brother... there was a car crash many years ago. I was only 12 when it happened." She gave a hoarse laugh as she went on, "He must have figured it out somehow... but instead of going after me, he went for my family." It wasn't necessary for anyone to ask Aurora whom she was referring to, the 'him' obviously meant Michael.

It was at that very moment did Dean see the reality of what was acting as such a strong force in motivating Aurora to be the one to fight Lucifer; it would be a crushing blow to Michael and even though she couldn't kill the Archangel himself, by defeating the Devil, Aurora would gain a lot of power and allies with the other angels. It wasn't only about protecting her brothers or avenging her adoptive family's death, it was about avenging her own death and for Castiel as well, who had suffered 28 long years of his life without his soul-mate. Michael was the reason behind everything and defeating Lucifer was just the first step in Aurora's quest for vengeance.

"Alright..." Dean said as he clapped his hands together, "Everything's settled then. You definitely are a Winchester, Aurora... welcome to the family." He told her as he grinned brightly.

He went over to Aurora and gave her a hug, Sam was the second person to go and hug his sister warmly, everyone followed his suit. Jo, Ellen and lastly Bobby who seemed really happy that everyone had accepted Aurora into their family. All the while, Castiel stood beside her, smiling happily as he watched her being received by the Winchester's, she now had two families. And since all the questioning was over, everyone was relaxed now and decided to fill Aurora in with everything that had happened in the past three decades. Sam and Dean were keen on telling her stories about their parents, they knew how important John and Mary were to her and wanted to make sure that she had many memories of them. Ellen and Jo retreated to the kitchen to prepare something for everyone to eat while Bobby began recounting the older days of John and Mary's initial hunting lives when he had first met them. Aurora sat with them, listening patiently while resting a hand on Castiel's lap, they weren't going to leave each other again.

It had been only a few minutes and although everyone was engrossed in exchanging stories with Aurora, the angel had divided her attention for a minute and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sophia was slowly trying to leave the room without making a noise. Aurora understood that the other angel needed some time to be alone to herself and didn't say anything. But, just as she diverted from listening to Dean's encounter with a particularly nasty Wendigo when he had gone hunting with Sam, she caught sight of something that was a little unexpected; it seemed as if there was another person who had gotten sight of Sophia attempting to slip away upstairs and Aurora had seen him.

She saw him staring at the retreating figure of Sophia with such longing and sadness that with a start, she realized what exactly she was looking at. She broke her gaze from him and turned to look at Sophia who was already halfway up the staircase, unaware of his eyes on her. Aurora faced him again and understood everything immediately; unlike her and Sophia, there were some angels who were not fortunate to have a destined soul-mate, and he happened to be one of those angels, but looking at him now, with everything written clearly on his face, Aurora knew that he had landed himself in an unexpected and complicated situation, but even though it was impossible, it was still true. Balthazar had fallen in love with Sophia.

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**So... interesting enough or not? Reviews or not?**

**P.S** - Chamuel is said to be the Archangel of Love according to some sites, if there are other names... it doesn't really matter much, i just thought it'd be nice to stick to some of the original names, like Sophia is the shortened form of Pistis Sophia - Angel of Wisdom.

**A/N: **Not sure when the next update will be up, I'll let you all know soon! ^_^


	44. Chapter 44

I'd like to thank all my wonderful readers: **Whitneysheree, valeskathesilverwolf, navybee, joyceeluna, minaghostwolf, weregirl19 and** **Black silver roses! **

**Disclaimer: **I still own nothing!

**A/N:** I know everyone is waiting for the big Cas/Aurora scenes but I need a little more time to perfect it as much as I can. Still, there is a cute scene with them today! ^_^

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"Aurora..." A soft voice suddenly called out to Aurora, but it appeared as if she hadn't heard her name being spoken.

Just then, Aurora felt a hand on her shoulder and it broke her reverie. Turning a little, she saw that Castiel was watching her with a worried look on his face.

"Aurora?" He repeated her name again but with that one word, he seemed to be asking so much more.

She smiled at him, knowing that he was concerned about her, but right now all she wanted was to speak to Balthazar alone. Even if it was for a few minutes.

"I'm fine Cas..." Aurora told him, finally saying his name. It was odd that in all the days that she had spent with him as Ashley, there was only one instance where she had used his name. But now... there was no need for her to be shy or feel anxious around him. In fact, Aurora believed that even now, she would be at complete ease with Castiel, just the way they used to be.

"Is there anything you need?" Castiel asked her, knowing that there was something on her mind, he had noticed her mind drift off when Sophia left the room.

But before Aurora got a chance to reply, Dean, who had left the hall with Sam and Bobby suddenly returned out of nowhere and managed to hear Castiel's question.

"Hey, you okay?" He sat down beside her once again.

"Yes. Really. I'm fine." Aurora gave a tiny laugh, she wasn't used to all this attention and seemingly pampered attitude from everyone around her. "I'm a big girl you know Dean... I can handle myself." She said to him.

"You're still my baby sister." Was all Dean replied back with a bright smile stretching across his face. "And if you need anything..." He went on to say, but Aurora beat him to it.

"Then I'll go to Sam." She finished his sentence and burst out laughing.

"Ha-ha... very funny, I see you're already adapting to the Winchester lifestyle." Dean feigned being hurt while sounding sarcastic. "But seriously, do you need to rest? You must be pretty tired after that history lesson." He smirked at her.

"I think I've rested a lot. I believe I was unconscious for a few hours and missed all the fun. No, what I need right now is something to do, I want to be active in planning our next move. We do have a next move right?" Aurora added as an afterthought, purposely stressing on the 'we' instead of 'I'.

"Yes, there is a plan. And we're gonna go over it in detail after dinner... I suppose you and Cas can..." Dean paused for a second while faking a cough and continued, "Talk." This earned him stares from Castiel and Aurora but he ignored them. "In the meantime, we'll finish up here and meet in the library within an hour." And before either angel could say anything further, Dean stood up and sauntered out of the hall leaving Castiel and Aurora alone.

"Cas..." Aurora rounded on him as soon as Dean had left and gently placed her hand on top of his, "Where did Balthazar go?" She asked him, for their friend had vanished a few minutes ago without saying anything.

"I believe he was headed towards the den." Castiel replied, not asking Aurora anything of this sudden question. "Do you want me to call him here?" He offered.

"No, its alright. I needed to talk to him for a few minutes." Aurora answered hastily and then realized what she had just done.

Reaching out, she grabbed a hold of Castiel's arm and stood up so that they were face to face now. Surprisingly, Aurora saw that Castiel was smiling ever so lightly and his blue eyes were bright again.

"Cas... we need to talk." She said to him in a whisper. "I know there's a lot we have to tell each other and..." As she was speaking, Castiel silenced her with his free hand on her mouth.

"I never said anything Aurora... we can talk later, when everyone else is asleep; we will be alone and that is all I need, to be with you without anyone else around. And what is waiting for a few hours compared to a few lost years?" There was a sad smile on his face now, but he was not angry with Aurora. That emotion no longer existed now that she was with him again.

"28 years is not a few Cas... and I know that I cannot imagine how you have survived all this time..." This time Aurora lost the courage to go on speaking and dropped her gaze to the floor as she fell silent.

Castiel grinned as he realized that his Aurora was the same as she had been all those years ago, strong and powerful in fighting but shy and quiet whenever she was with him. And to be an angel who possessed such courage and humility at the same time was the reason Castiel had be drawn to her.

"I survived because I knew... I knew in my heart that you were never gone. Somehow I believed you were still alive and that was enough." He placed a finger under her chin and made her look up at him once more.

"And I knew that I would come back to you one day." Aurora said as she smiled back at him, understanding the unspoken words that flitted between them.

"Now go, Balthazar needs you. I will go and check on Sophia." Castiel pulled her closer to him and gently kissed her forehead.

It took a moment for Aurora to process what Castiel had just said and by the time she opened her eyes, he was almost on his way to Sophia's room.

"How did you...?" She asked him, sounding surprised. It never occurred to her that maybe Castiel too noticed what she had.

"Balthazar and Sophia are my friends as well, it is not hard to notice that which is not easily seen by others." Castiel had turned around to give Aurora one last smile before heading upstairs.

Aurora shook her head as she made her way towards the den, Castiel was always the silent observer and was sure to have picked up on the same thing sooner than she had. She passed the living room on her way and stopped for a second, getting a glimpse of her new family sitting down and having dinner; something that happened rarely and one that they knew they had to make the most of. Without wanting to disturb them, Aurora walked ahead to the den and saw that it was almost closed, save for a small opening through which she slipped inside and found herself watching Balthazar as he stood by the fireplace with his back to her.

"You came." His voice startled her. Somehow Balthazar had felt her presence and without turning around knew that had come to him.

"Of course I came, why wouldn't I?" She replied as she crossed over to where he stood and allowed him to drape his arm around her shoulder.

"Good question, why wouldn't you come?" Balthazar echoed her question. "Let me see... how about the fact that you finally got a chance to do whatever you want to with Cas and instead you come to me?" He tried very hard not to laugh but wasn't doing a good job of it.

"_A chance to do whatever I want with Cas? _Really Balthazar? Who do you think we are? If you were expecting us to..." Aurora started to say.

"Snog one another until hell freezes over? Among other things." He finished for her, grinning brightly.

"Balthazar!" Aurora exclaimed as she slapped his shoulder and moved to sit down on one of the sofa's. "Honestly, I'm surprised you're not the Angel of Mischief or something..." She shook her head as she smiled back at him. "If you were expecting something of that sort then sorry to disappoint you, but Cas and I are not going to spend all our time _snogging _each other till hell freezes over. Which might not be that far away, if you mean it literally." Aurora laughed when she saw that Balthazar's face had fallen slightly when he heard that.

"_Mei-mei_, don't you see... you and Cas have finally gotten your second chance to be together." his voice suddenly turned serious as he came to sit down next to her, "Use your time together well. Go crazy, have fun, tell Cas to take you on a world tour or go to the moon... god knows you two deserve it more than anyone else... you've found each other again, don't waste your time apart." While his strange philosophy seemed sensible enough, Aurora knew what was really going on through Balthazar's mind.

"We're not _apart _Balthazar. Just because we're together again, it doesn't mean we have to stick with each other like glue 24/7. Cas and I will spend time together, though I doubt he'll want to take a trip to the _moon_." Aurora told him with a giggle. "I know what we've been given, but we're going to have all the time to go on a world tour _and go _crazy after we finish saving the world." She placed her hand on his and knew it was time. "Now, can you forget about my love life for a few minutes while we focus on yours, dear brother?" Aurora asked him.

"My _what_? Did you just say my love life?" Balthazar let out a loud laugh, "Why on Earth would we talk about something that's non-existent?" He was sure that Aurora was only trying to pull his leg, surely she didn't know anything?

But the look that Aurora gave him clearly said otherwise, she had raised one eyebrow and was staring at him as if saying that she wasn't a child.

"Oh really? And you expect me to just believe that Balthazar? You don't have a love life at all?" She pretended to be shocked.

"I don't. That's the truth, believe what you want_._" Balthazar sounded grumpy already.

"I'll believe what I want to, but you need to stop believing what you think is the truth. Just because you think its impossible doesn't make it so." Aurora didn't wait for him to say anything, but directly jumped into the matter.

"I don't _think _its impossible, I know it is. And so do you, and Cas and..." But he couldn't bring himself to go on.

"Sophia? Look... it doesn't mean anything Balthazar..." Aurora began to say, hoping that he would give her a chance to speak but knew it was a pointless hope.

"Of course it does!" Balthazar exclaimed as he jumped up from the sofa and turned to face his sister, "Don't you get it Aurora? I can't... I can't have anything to do with anyone... I'm not supposed to have... especially not someone who already has..." His words were broken and incomplete but it was clear what he was trying to say.

"Just because you don't have a soul-mate now doesn't mean you're not _supposed _to have one. You just haven't found her yet. Or rather, you aren't _telling_ her yet." Aurora wasn't going to listen to her brother this time.

"She already has a soul-mate Aurora! She's been bonded... to someone else." Balthazar tried to make Aurora see reason.

"She _had_ a soul-mate. She _was_ bound to someone else Balthazar. Not anymore." Aurora replied calmly. "Cam's gone." It was hard for her to accept that, but knowing there was still a tiny chance, a ray of hope that Sophia could find happiness again, just like she had, Aurora wasn't about to let it go.

"That doesn't change anything. The bond's broken, she won't be whole again, she can't love again." Balthazar said with a sigh, mentally cursing whoever came up with the idea of angels having one true love, one soul-mate for eternity and hated the ridiculous system that paired the angels together. If he had his way then perhaps things would have turned out better, but they weren't and he was going to have to make Aurora understand that.

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**Reviews please?** Promise to add more Cas/Aurora scenes soon!


	45. Chapter 45

A nice big Thank You to: **Whitneysheree, valeskathesilverwolf, joyceeluna, minaghostwolf! **And to my new readers whom I might have forgotten to mention before, **Caschick23, ItsVannWinchester **and** Lady Wesker**, thank you for joining in! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I own the new Balthazar! Or at least I think I do...

**A/N:** There's mainly Balthazar/Aurora scenes today, but towards the end there is a lovely tiny gesture of Cas/Aurora! Better and bigger scenes coming really soon! ^_^

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"And who's to say that?" Aurora questioned her brother, "What makes you think that Sophia can't love again?" Instead of waiting for Balthazar to answer, she did it herself, "The two of you have been on Earth for so long now... don't take this in a bad way, but you both are more human-like than angels. And down here, its not a crime to fall in love again." She hoped she was getting through to him.

"I can't... I just can't do it Aurora... she doesn't love me that way, whatever love she had in her, disappeared with Cam." Balthazar said with a sad sigh as he sat back down.

"That means you don't know her as well as I do..." Aurora said softly, causing Balthazar to turn her way and look at her with wide eyes

"What do you mean by that?" He asked her, utterly perplexed on hearing the tone she had used.

"I mean that... Sophia and Cam were soul-mates and they did love each other a lot, but... not in the way that you do... not in the way that Cas and I love each other... their relationship was different. He was the Archangel of Love and she of Wisdom, and they did balance each other out but they lacked the _passion_ Balthazar, she wasn't _in love_ with Cam, the archangel's never interacted as much as the rest of us... Cas and I were both training officers in the same garrison, we knew each other before we fell in love, Sophia was satisfied and content with Cam, but he didn't really fit the description of being how you'd expect the angel of love to be..." Aurora let her voice drift off towards the end knowing Balthazar was beginning to listen to her.

"I remember..." Balthazar cut in, "Cam always seemed like a stiff to me. But he was still an archangel and I... I'm just an angel." He seemed to not want to be worthy of Sophia which Aurora thought was silly of Balthazar.

"Better angel than human... and you know as well as I do that ranks don't matter in Heaven. Archangel's don't need to have another archangel as their soul-mate and as for being _just_ an angel, you my brother, are most definitely not just an angel. You're a part of this fight, look at Michael and Raphael, trying to control everything from Heaven... they're not doing anything at all..." Aurora scoffed.

"But..." Balthazar's last attempt was going to be as feeble as the past ones, he knew it but he wasn't going to give up yet.

"No but's Balthazar... we're leaving this aside for now, but don't forget... not only am I an angel, but I'm a Winchester as well and that makes me more stubborn than I usually used to be." Aurora warned her brother with a teasing grin. "I'm going to get you and Sophia together and with Cas helping me, it shouldn't be that hard." She knew mentioning Castiel's name was actually a good idea.

"Wait -" Balthazar's face suddenly lost its colour, "What did you just say? Cas knows?" This was something he had not forseen and it worried him slightly to know that Castiel knew about his feelings for Sophia.

"Apparently he knew about it before I did..." Aurora told him calmly, "And why are you so worried about it? Aren't you and Cas like brothers-in-arms or something like that?"

This made Balthazar lighten up as he started laughing loudly. It took him several seconds to calm down and when he did, he simply patted Aurora on the head lightly.

"Oh Aurora... you have adapted yourself to the human lifestyle for so long, you've even watched too many movies." Balthazar said to her with a sigh. Things were not always so easy in life.

"I am human, in a manner of speaking; until I get my Grace back, I am powerless. So mock all you want, but you know I'm right. You and Cas have always been close allies, he trusts you very much and he seems to agree with me." Aurora suddenly realized that she had forgotten to ask Sophia about her Grace all this while, but focused on Balthazar for the moment.

"Of course he agrees with you, don't you remember? The two of you were the perfect couple, all the other angels wanted to use your example to spread the word of a couple who were 'a match made in Heaven.' Cas has been head in heels over in love with you since before you'll were chosen, and if memory serves me right, then I think you also had a soft heart for him long before you learned he was to be your soul-mate." Balthazar smiled sadly as he remembered how Castiel and Aurora had been when they were together in Heaven. He shook his head clear of those thoughts, they were together even now.

"So? We have had our differences in the past and now... now..." But for the first time during their conversation, Aurora was at a loss of words to describe her situation with Castiel to Balthazar.

"And now, you're going to overcome those differences." Balthazar said reassuringly as he placed his arm around Aurora and she rested her head against his shoulder. "Like you said _mei-mei,_ I will make sure that you and Cas become the happy couple that you used to be." Suddenly Balthazar was no longer worried about himself, all he wanted was for Aurora to be happy again, she had gone through a lot in the past and now she needed Castiel and he was going to make it happen.

"I don't..." Aurora started to say hesitantly, but then changed her sentence, "I know that we'll be fine soon, but there's a lot left unsaid between us... I didn't tell him anything, I... I couldn't... I wanted to tell him, and you! But I couldn't. He's changed Balthazar, but I still love him, I do. I've never stopped loving him... but... will he be able to forgive me? Have you forgiven me?" She lifted her head up to face Balthazar.

"There's no question about it... you're my sister. I never needed to forgive you because I know why you did what you've done and Cas knows that as well. So don't worry, as long as he knows that there's still that everlasting flame of love between you two, everything's gonna be fine!" He needed to cheer Aurora up, she was beginning to feel low suddenly, having realized that she and Castiel needed to talk things through.

"If you say so... but... do you think I've changed?" This was a question that had been on Aurora's mind for a while now and she wanted to ask Balthazar for his opinion.

"You know... when I met you last night... you were still Ashley but even then I knew you were really Aurora... it took a lot for me not to come and crush you with a bear hug." He smiled a little at that thought, "Only because I didn't want to scare you. Your memories weren't back yet, I didn't even know if you were going to get them but... what I'm trying to say is that even though it seems you haven't changed a lot, there is still a little bit of you that's changed, the part where you're willing to do anything to get revenge for your death." Balthazar hoped he said that last bit right.

Hearing that, Aurora moved her head from Balthazar's shoulder and sat upright staring at him, unsure if she should feel happy or confused.

"What are you trying to say? That I shouldn't try to avenge my own death? Michael, Raphael, Uriel and Zachariah were all a part of the plan to kill me. If I wanted to kill them, I would have done it long ago but I know better... and do you think I should let my brothers kill themselves for Michael's gain? He doesn't care what happens to Dean and Sam, he just wants to kill Lucifer." Aurora was reacting differently than Balthazar had expected, having just sounded a little hyper.

"I never said that you shouldn't try it. I actually might be the only one who agrees with you. Dean and Sam want to do their part too because they believe that if they began the Apocalypse then by defeating Lucifer, it wil be some sort of redemption for them." He placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her down.

"That doesn't mean they have to kill themselves in the process. I can do it... I know about the horsemen rings... I just have to talk to Dean and Sam and tell them that they don't need to stop me." Aurora was determined to see this to the end and Balthazar knew that.

"Well if they don't see reason, you could always leave them stranded in a desert for a week." Balthazar said to Aurora with a smirk.

"Leave who stranded in a desert for a week?" A third voice suddenly echoed Balthazar's words from the entrance.

Aurora and Balthazar turned around to see who had heard them, praying that it wasn't Dean or Sam. They both heaved a sigh of relief when they saw Castiel standing by the door.

"Cas!" Balthazar exclaimed as he jumped up from his seat, "Don't do that next time!" He told his friend as he pretended to clutch his heart in shock.

"Do what exactly?" Castiel asked Balthazar tilting his head slightly, a tiny grin forming on his face as he sounded like he didn't know what his friend was talking about.

"Never mind..." Balthazar replied with a mumble, "So what brings you here Cassy boy? Couldn't stay away from Aurora long enough?" He was back to the teasing once more.

"Not again Balthazar!" Aurora started to chide him, looking utterly annoyed with her brother.

"Actually... I did come to meet you..." Castiel said as he turned to face Aurora who blushed slightly on hearing him say that. "Dean is waiting for you in the library." He continued to say, not letting Balthazar get a chance to comment on his earlier statement.

"Oh!" Aurora exclaimed as she too jumped up from her seat, "Has it already been an hour?" She glanced at the clock on the wall behind her and saw that it was a few minutes past the hour.

"Go." Balthazar told her as he gave her a little nudge. "We'll talk later..." He smiled softly.

"Aren't you'll coming?" Aurora looked from Balthazar to Castiel, wondering if the latter was going to say anything about Sophia.

"You go ahead, I need to talk to Balthazar for a minute." Castiel told her.

"Alright." Aurora broke her gaze from Castiel and turned to talk to Balthazar, there was one last thing she had to say to him. "Just remember one thing Balthazar, nothing is impossible."

"I'll keep that in mind." He replied to her, knowing that since Castiel was going to give him a lecture now, there was no point in arguing with either of them.

As Aurora was leaving, she stopped just before she had crossed halfway across the den and spinning around, she went back towards Balthazar and standing on her toes, gave him a light hug which said everything that she needed to tell him. Balthazar responded with a hug and a kiss on top of her head before making her leave again.

"Don't take too long." Aurora reminded both the angels as she headed out of the den and towards the library. And once again, before stepping outside the door, she faced Castiel and surprising herself and the men, gave him a tiny peck on his cheek before leaving.

As soon as Aurora left the den, Balthazar walked over to where Castiel stood by the entrance and clapped him on the back, breaking the other angel's reverie from Aurora's surprise kiss.

"Well that was interesting..." Balthazar commented, unable to help himself. "Glad to see things are getting back to normal with you two." He smirked happily at that thought.

"I... we... yes well I think..." Castiel was confused, he didn't know what had just happened and was having a bit of a hard time processing it. Aurora had kissed him on the cheek; that had to mean something.

"Stop thinking Cas! Just go for it... she clearly still loves you and by the looks of it, so do you. So what's stopping you two?" Balthazar was hoping he'd distract Castiel long enough to avoid his topic.

"I do not know Balthazar..." Castiel had been staring outside the den at the empty hallway through which Aurora had walked through but now looked at his friend, "I love her too... but we need to talk... there are many things that we have left unsaid... and if we are to have a second chance together then I want us to have a new beginning." Castiel's words seemed to have affected Balthazar for he realized what Castiel was hinting at.

"You've made your point Cas..." Balthazar said softly as thoughts of a possible happy future with Sophia began to fill his mind. "But at least you know that Aurora still loves you... I don't even have that luxury... she doesn't think of me that way." He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

"You do not know that for sure Balthazar. From what I have seen, I think that Sophia needs someone like you in her life. The bond between her and Chamuel has been broken for over 28 years now... and she has spent all her time on Earth trying to heal from the pain... you can help her through it. I have noticed the way you are when Sophia is around, you love her very much, perhaps even more than Cam ever did. You two deserve to be happy, so why not with each other?" Castiel posed a similar question to Balthazar.

Both the angels had their own situations with Aurora and Sophia, which were not too different, and yet the two of them were hesitant, for they didn't have hope for a second chance at love until then. But now, Balthazar and Castiel were going to ignore everything else and only think about getting their respective angels as their soul-mates.

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**Reviews anyone?** There will be more Cas/Aurora scenes soon! And I'm going to write two lovely and hopefully romantic scenes with Dean/Jo and Balthazar/Sophia! ^_^


	46. Chapter 46

I would like to Thank my lovely loyal readers: **valeskathesilverwolf, joyceeluna, lady wesker, navybee, whitneysheree, minaghostwolf and caschick23. **And I'm really happy to welcome a new reader, **ComingTogether** who is none other than my dear friend Hannah Hogan to whom the story is dedicated along with a character to her name! ^_^

**Disclaimer:** I own all the lovely scenes of my characters!

**A/N: **We have a Cas/Aurora scene at the end of the chapter today! Hope its enough for now!

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"I don't know Cas... I don't want to hurt her... what if...?" Balthazar started to say but the other angel cut him off.

"Do not think of that Balthazar... think only that you are the only one who can give Sophia all the love and happiness she needs and no matter what happens, I believe that you are not capable of hurting her." Castiel placed a reassuring hand on Balthazar's shoulder, knowing that he was close to getting through to him.

"You know what Cas?" Balthazar started to say, "I think you should have been the Angel of Wisdom... I mean look at you, spurting philosophical, wise words of advice here!" He seemed happier suddenly, and Castiel realized that Balthazar had made a decision.

"You know what you are going to do." Castiel stated, instead of asking his friend. He ignored Balthazar's earlier comment and waited for an answer.

"I do. I'm going to take my own idea that I suggested to you, I'm gonna go for it! I'll talk to her right now." Balthazar was suddenly charged up with energy and was almost on his way out of the den when Castiel stopped him.

"Wait. Do not say anything to Sophia just yet. She is resting upstairs, the fight took a toll on her, let us wait until tomorrow." Castiel suggested.

"Okay... so to the library then?" Balthazar relented to the idea of speaking with Sophia for now and decided that he and Castiel were going to be needed in the library where Dean and Sam were planning their next move with Aurora and the others.

"Yes, to the library." Castiel replied with a smile on his face. He knew that no matter what happened, he and Balthazar would still have each other as friends, as brothers.

Together, the angel's left the den and made their way across the hall towards the library, discussing whether or not the house needed guarding now that the danger had passed. On reaching the library, they both were surprised at the sight that greeted them. Dean and Sam were having a bit of an argument with Aurora and Jo along with Bobby who seemed to have taken the girls' side while Ellen was remaining neutral. But what they didn't expect to see was Sophia, looking a little pale but was still adamantly taking part in the discussion.

"Look, we have the rings and we have a plan..." Dean was saying, "Let me and Sammy go in and everything will be fixed, the biggest loss will be one of us compared to the whole world and six billion people is bigger than one person." He was trying to dissuade Aurora from taking his and Sam's place in the fight.

"You don't get it Dean... with me, none of you will have to die. And don't give me the whole 'it's our destiny' excuse... I have the advantage of already being an angel. I'm not possessing someone who I can leave at any time... Ashley was just a name, an identity I had when I didn't have my memories... let me do this one thing. No one has to die, not you, not Sam, not me... I can promise you that Dean..." Aurora was trying one last time to convince her brothers not to go through with their plan.

"Say we do decide to let you fight Lucifer instead..." Dean began, "Do you have a plan?" He was also atempting to not allow his sister to take his and Sam's place.

"What is going on here?" Balthazar broke through their conversation as he finally spoke up; he and Castiel were still trying to make sense of what had happened, they were supposed to be finding a way to get to the Devil and not arguing over who would fight him.

"Nothing really, they're just trying to choose between whose going to end up killing themselves." Sophia replied, she sounded upset over something.

"Sophia..." Aurora started to say, "I am not going to die and neither are Sam and Dean... and I do have a plan," She said as she turned back to the boys, "I know about the rings, we have all four of them... I can use them to open the cage and send Lucifer back where he belongs. But... if I am the one to do this, then I have a few conditions." Aurora was finally getting there, she had made her decision a while ago and was going to stick to it.

"What conditions?" Castiel asked her, looking intrigued. Somehow he had a feeling he knew what Aurora was talking about, if she was going to go and face Lucifer, she wasn't going to let them all go with her.

"I'm going to take only 3 people with me... everyone else will have to go to Bobby's house because this place has been compromised already and we can't afford to let our defenses to be weak." Aurora was in her warrior mode at that moment, she was always thorough and apt with planning strategies.

"Fair enough." Dean said and it sounded as if he was finally relenting and stepping back from the fight. "So who will be your bodyguards apart from Cas?" It was obvious that Aurora would take Castiel with her since they had always trained together and were excellent fighters.

"You." Aurora replied and then continued, "And Sophia." She finished naming her third choice.

"Me?" Sophia was wide eyed with surprise, "Are you sure you want me with you Aurora? Don't you need Balthazar or Sam?" She was wondering why Aurora wasn't taking either of her brothers.

"I need Balthazar to remain with the others..." Aurora answered as she exchanged a glance with him to see if he had any objections, but after a slight nod from him, she continued, "And Sam... its safer for you if you stay behind. Lucifer is still going to try and bait you to take him but we can finish him easily when he's weak. The vessel he possesses now seems to be dying, Dean told me that you'll have encountered him a few months ago..." She paused, not knowing the details of what had happened that day.

"Yea... we tried killing the son of a bitch with the Colt but it didn't work. There was an attack on us at Carthage... Jo was wounded but Cas saved her in time... we almost lost her for nothing." It seemed as if Sam was also bitter about the memory of the attack on them all those months ago.

"I believe that only an archangel's sword can kill Lucifer but its safer if we use the rings, hopefully he won't know about them, it'll be an advantage we can use." Aurora explained.

"I think we're forgetting something here." Jo suddenly piped in. She hadn't felt like coming in the middle of the family discussion but there was one thing that they all had not decided on yet.

"What?" It was a simultaneous question from everyone who was present in the room, causing Jo to grin at them all because she was the only one who had realized their missing piece of the puzzle.

"Lucifer's location? We don't know where he is so how are we gonna take the fight to him?" Jo tried not to sound as if it was the most obvious thing that they had forgotten.

"Actually we do know where he might be..." Ellen answered for everyone as she stood up from the corner of the library holding up a map in her hand. Beside her, the desk was filled with newspapers from the past two days. "According to these reports, there could be some omens here... a cyclone in Florida, temperature drops in Detroit, wildfire in LA..." She started to read out some of the weird occurrences.

"Wait what did you say about Detroit?" Dean asked Ellen, a sudden memory resurfacing.

"The temperature has been dropping a couple of degrees since yesterday, its down 20 degress now... but only around a 5 block radius downtown." Ellen read the report.

"That's the one." Dean knew it was going to be Detroit all along but had hoped for something to change. But he had been wrong. "Devil's in Detroit." He sounded certain of it.

Everyone in the room stared at Dean for a moment, wondering how he could be so confident about his answer, but he wasn't about to say anything else on the matter.

"Are you sure about that boy?" Bobby asked him, giving Dean a weird look as if he knew Dean was hiding something, "Detroit sounds a bit unlikely..." He was trying to see if there was more to the story.

"That's exactly why I know he's gonna be there... I know I'm right." Dean was trying not to get angry, and hoped that no one would press him for details.

"I believe you Dean..." Aurora only had to take one look into his eyes to see his firm determination, he clearly knew more than he was letting on but she wasn't going to start questioning him.

"Alright, so if we're going to Detroit then we should leave as soon as we can." Sophia suggested to Dean.

"No. You two need your strength." He said indicating to Sophia and Aurora. "We're not leaving for another two days." Dean remembered everything clearly from that experience, and if it all was going to go accordingly, then he still had two days left.

"Two days?" Sam was confused, "Why not go now? Or tomorrow? We know where the devil is, so why do we need to wait?" He knew that even if he wasn't going, this was a chance they shouldn't lose.

But there was one person who understood what Dean had meant when he had announced that they wouldn't make their move for another two days and she was glad to hear him say that, she was still weak and apparently Dean noticed that as well for he suddenly turned to face her.

"Aurora's not fully recovered yet and if I'm gonna let her take on the Devil then she has to be powered up again. That includes getting her mind and body rested." He told everyone.

"I'm fine..." Aurora started to say, but even as the words left her mouth, she felt a little dizzy and tired and had to slowly lean against the table for support. "I just... I'm not a hundred percent perfect... not until I get my Grace back..." She was starting to feel the fatigue hitting her, the past few hours had been a toll on her.

"You need to rest first..." Sophia told Aurora as she came over and placed a hand on her shoulders, "Its not just your body that's tired, your mind is still adjusting to all of your memories... and if you want to fight anyone, you'll need to train a little bit more tomorrow." She said to her sister.

"I guess you're right Sophia..." Aurora calmly accepted defeat, but remained where she was.

"I think we all could use some sleep. It's been a long day for all of us." Ellen told the others, as she stacked up everything on the desk and went over to Jo who was also looking a little tired.

"You heard her boys..." Bobby said a little too loudly, "We all need to rest. Come on now..." He ordered Sam and Dean.

"Go. We'll be fine." Sophia said to the others, "Balthazar and Castiel aren't going to stand guard tonight, we're safe and the wards are up again." She wanted a word with Castiel before taking Aurora to her room.

Sam and Dean reluctantly agreed that it was time they all turned in for the night and after giving Aurora a light hug and a kiss on the forehead, both of them followed Jo out of the library and made their way towards their rooms. Once the library was quiet again, Sophia turned to Balthazar.

"Balthazar, I need to talk to Cas about something... is it okay if you take Aurora upstairs to her room?" She was going to make sure Aurora got her Grace back.

"Actually... I was wondering if I could have a word with you..." Balthazar said softly, after exchanging a look with Castiel, "Let Cas take Aurora to her room, you can talk to him later." He was hoping to get a moment alone with Sophia, just to see if there was a chance for him.

Sophia looked at Castiel, then back to Balthazar and sighed as she nodded in agreement. Aurora, who had been quiet during this conversation suddenly raised her head when she heard Balthazar's suggestion and was lucky enough to catch the nod from Sophia. And as soon as she turned around to face Castiel, their eyes met and he held out a hand to her.

"I'll see you tomorrow _mei-mei_..." Balthazar said to Aurora as he walked towards her and hugged her. "Sleep well." He told her before placing a kiss on her forehead as well.

"You too." Aurora smiled at him and placed a kiss on his cheek before taking Castiel's hand.

"Goodnight Aurora." Sophia told her, trying not to let the other angel see her looking annoyedly at Castiel whose face remained perfectly composed.

"Goodnight." Aurora finally decided it was time to leave, she let go of the desk and started to walk towards the door, still holding onto Castiel's hand.

"Are you alright?" Castiel asked her as he turned slightly to look at her. She suddenly seemed very tired and weak.

"Yes, just a little tired. Don't worry, I'll be fine in the morning." Aurora looked up at him and smiled. She was already feeling better now that she was with him again.

Castiel didn't say anything else as they walked across the hall towards the staircase but before they had touched the first step, he felt Aurora shiver a little as she suddenly leaned closer into him for support. He caught hold of her by the waist and gazed at her worriedly, that one look told him that Aurora was drained of energy and wouldn't be able to walk any further.

For a moment, it seemed as if time was frozen as Castiel and Aurora continued to stare at each other, lost in their eyes until Aurora suddenly felt her feet slide from underneath her as she placed her hands around his neck. Without saying anything, he had picked her up in his arms and was holding onto her gently as he began to head upstairs. She could feel her heartbeat increasing rapidly with each step and soon she felt her head fall against his chest and her eyes began to close. Castiel looked down at Aurora's sleeping form in his arms and knew then and there that no matter what happened, he would give his life to protect hers.

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Can I get reviews even though its still a tiny scene? There's a continuation of Cas/Aurora at the start of the next chapter followed by a Balthy/Sophia scene! ^_^


	47. Chapter 47

Thank you my readers for bearing with me! **Caschick23, valeskathesilverwolf, whitneysheree, joyceeluna, minaghostwolf and comingTogether!** I apologize for the long delay!

**A/N: **Okay so the Cas/Aurora scene is tiny because the chapter's focusing on Balthy/Sophia but please do read it! ^_^

**Disclaimer:** I want Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins and if possible Seb Roche too! ^_^

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Once he had reached her room, Castiel carefully lowered Aurora onto the bed, she was in a deep slumber now, but her arms were still around Castiel's neck. He knelt down beside the bed and very slowly took a hold of her hands and removing them from his neck, he placed them on her chest. For a few minutes, he stayed there the way he was gazing at Aurora as she slept, looking peaceful and... human. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Castiel felt his hand go towards his shirt under which Aurora's grace still hung on the necklace. He glanced at her and then removed the vial that continued to glow with her grace's bright light.

"_Soon." _Castiel thought to himself, _"I will give Aurora her Grace back when the time is right. Before she faces Lucifer..." _He didn't really understand why he was holding back from giving Aurora her grace. There was nothing more important than to see Aurora get her powers back but Castiel was hesitant.

A small shiver from Aurora jolted Castiel out of his thoughts and he slid the chain back under his shirt and stood up. At the foot of the bed lay a silken blanket with which he covered Aurora before bending down to kiss her forehead. He stayed where he was, lost in his gazing and gently carressing her soft cheek; he felt as if he could stay there all night just sitting and gazing at her while she slept... but first he wanted to check on Sophia and see if she was fine. As soon as Castiel got up to head back downstairs, he felt something warm touch his hand and turning to face Aurora, he saw that she had grabbed a hold of his hand in hers even though she was still asleep. Castiel remained where he was for only a second and then making up his mind, returned to his original place by Aurora's bedside and sat down there holding onto her hand.

"_Balthazar is with Sophia... he will take care of her..." _Castiel mused and then pushing all other thoughts from his mind focused only on the woman sleeping in front of him.

He kissed her hand that was holding on to his and grinned when he saw a tiny smile creep across her face as she continued to sleep soundly and Castiel felt that inspite of what the next day or two held, there was still tonight and being with Aurora was the most important thing on his mind.

While Castiel stayed with Aurora in her room, everyone else had gone to sleep in their own rooms, everyone save for Balthazar and Sophia who were still in the library; Sophia was clearing the books and files from the desk while Balthazar stood in one corner watching her quietly with a tiny smile on his face. He was getting a chance to see her in a new light, one that he hadn't seen in a long time, he knew that she was still a little nervous about being chosen to go with Castiel and Dean but seeing how she managed to put on a brave face and show that she wasn't worried only made Balthazar realize how much he loved her and knew he would protect her life no matter the cost.

"You did that on purpose didn't you?" Sophia's voice suddenly floated across the library to Balthazar, breaking the silence and his chain of thoughts. She had finished and was staring at him, waiting for an answer.

"Did what on purpose?" He asked her, feigning innocence. Balthazar knew what Sophia was talking about but he wanted to let this conversation go on for as long as possible, he didn't know when he would get another chance like this.

"You know what I'm talking about Balthazar..." Sophia replied with a sigh, "I was going to ask Cas to return Aurora's grace to her and you just let him take her away...?" She didn't sound as disappointed as she looked.

"I didn't just let Cas take Aurora away..." Balthazar started to reply, "Cas knows he has to give her grace back and he will. When the time is right; and knowing him... he's probably going to do it tomorrow." He finished.

"I suppose you're right..." Sophia said as she folded her arms over her chest, "But... don't you think..." She started to ask him.

But what exactly Sophia wanted to know Balthazar thought about she never got to ask; he had closed the distance between the two of them and had placed one hand over her lips and shook his head.

"I don't think Sophia... there's nothing to think about," He began to tell her, his voice was soft, "Cas is there for Aurora now and he isn't going to let anything happen to her. He's even willing to die for her..." Balthazar saw no point in hiding that fact from Sophia.

The moment Balthazar spoke his last words, Sophia's head snapped up and she locked gazes with him. She couldn't say anything because his hand was still over her mouth but that didn't matter because Sophia slowly found that she was losing herself as she continued to stare into Balthazar's bright sea blue eyes. The two of them just stood there, transfixed as they stared at each other until somewhere in the back of her mind, Sophia realized what was going on and she pulled out of the trance, dropping Balthazar's hand from her lips.

"Yes... I know that. Cas is... he's always... been protective of Aurora..." Sophia said as she tried to brush off the unknown feeling that was rising in her chest as she continued to look into his eyes but had to tear her gaze away when she felt an increase in her heartbeats.

"Exactly..." Balthazar replied with a smile, but gave no indication that he had noticed any change in Sophia's composure. She was trying to stay level-headed as she figured out why his presence was affecting her.

"But..." Sophia found herself wanting to stay there in the library with Balthazar and was willing to tell him about her worries, but was still hesitant to do so.

Balthazar seemed to realize what the matter was and thought it best not to tell Sophia anything just yet, he was going to wait a little bit longer, give her some time to figure things out. In the meantime, he was going to be the friend that she needed to rely on. And without saying anything, he placed his hands on her shoulders and made her look back up at him.

"You don't have to say anything Sophia... I know you're worried about Aurora and I am too, she is my sister too after all, but look on the bright side, you have a chance to be there with her when she'll need one of us the most... and..."

"That's what I'm scared for Balthazar... I didn't want to be chosen... I want you to go in my place, you and Castiel and Dean will be able to protect Aurora better than I can... please, will you go?" Sophia looked at him with pleading eyes, she wanted to tell him how much she wished that he could take her place.

"I..." Balthazar found himself at a loss for words; Sophia was an Archangel which made her much more powerful than he was and yet here she was, asking him to take her place in the final batttle against Lucifer?

By then Sophia had decided that if there was someone whom she could open up to, it was Balthazar. She grabbed a hold of his hands in hers and held on tightly.

"Please Balthazar, I... I would go if it was the only choice left... but it isn't, I will speak to Aurora myself and tell her that it is better if you take my place." Sophia had to make Balthazar agree to go with Aurora instead of her.

"But why?" He looked at her with such concern in his eyes, he was genuinely worried about her. Balthazar needed to know what had suddenly happened that caused Sophia to suddenly back out from something as big as this.

Sophia stood where she was, watching the man in front of her... Balthazar. He had changed so very much in the past 30 years; he too had left Heaven and rebelled against the other angel's when he realized that he could not be a part of the fight. But seeing him today when he and Aurora were finally reunited, the love for his sister was so powerful and strong that it surprised Sophia to see him in such a different light and even now, he was thinking only about her. What did that mean? She shook her head clear of all the confusing thoughts and smiled at Balthazar.

"Honestly... I'm just tired..." She knew there was point in keeping anything from Balthazar, they were allies and she knew that he would understand her.

He didn't say anything then, but taking her by the shoulders led her towards the sofa and made her sit down while he took a seat beside her. He waited patiently for her to continue speaking, she needed someone to listen to her words and he was going to be that person. Balthazar knew that normally Sophia would turn to Aurora for any issue, but this time was different, they both knew that Aurora had enough going on and didn't want to burden their sister with any more difficulties.

"I don't want to fight anymore..." Sophia went on after a tiny pause, "All I want is for everything to end already... this war has been going on for thirty years! And in two days, Aurora is going to face Lucifer in the hopes that she will defeat him and end the fight once and for all, but what about Michael? He isn't going to let Aurora go so easily... I'm more worried about what Michael is capable of than the Devil. I don't want to lose Aurora... Too many people have lost their lives already..." At this point Sophia found that she could go no further; the memory of losing Chamuel was still embedded in her mind, even if she wasn't always conscious of it, she knew that it was always going to be there to remind her of what she had lost.

It still wasn't the right time to speak but Balthazar knew that Sophia was still healing, for her it was much harder than it had been with Castiel who had survived losing Aurora a little easier because they had not been bonded. But with Sophia, there was a part of her that was missing and she believed that there was no way it would ever be replaced.

"I... all I want is..." Sophia took a deep breath before going on, "I want peace and happiness Balthazar, but not only throughout the world... I want Aurora to be happy... she has gone through so much and she is still a young angel, but she has faced death and come back from it... she has been separated from Cas for too long, I know how that feels, and being the Archangel of Love, it is my duty to ensure that even those two are bonded, they need to rekindle their love and have a chance to live happily..."

"And what about you?" Balthazar finally asked her the only thing that mattered the most.

He knew that Aurora was in safe hands with Castiel and did not need to worry about her anymore, but there was no one to worry about Sophia... but he wasn't going to let that remain the same way.

"What about me?" Sophia was wonderstruck, she didn't know where Balthazar was going with this.

"You just said it yourself, you're the Archangel of Love, aren't you?" He waited until she gave him a tiny nod before continuing, "So why can't you think about yourself as well? I'm pretty sure that even the angel of love needs someone... to be with... someone to love... and be loved... by him." Balthazar knew that he was treading on a very delicate glass-like line here and was slowly forming his words, hoping Sophia would not get angry.

Sophia's reaction to his question was nothing like he had expected; he had thought she would be angry or would laugh at the idea and call it ridiculous or even be sad on hearing that, but Sophia did neither of these things. Instead of saying anything at all she simply turned to face Balthazar and gave him a sad smile and it was that one tiny gesture from her that showed him how truly broken she was because the smile showed him that she had given up hope of ever finding love again and that broke Balthazar's heart a little more.

"That would be nice wouldn't it?" Sophia said to him softly, her voice suddenly taking on a far-away tone as if she were dreaming.

Balthazar noticed that Sophia began to stare intently at the fire that was still blazing strongly, the bright orange-red flames devouring the logs, but Balthazar found himself losing sight of anything but her chocolate brown eyes that were glowing golden with the light of the flames. A real beauty sitting right in front of him.

"I think... that if it was possible, I could fall in love at this very moment..." She was continuously keeping her eyes on the fireplace. "But... obviously that isn't possible." Sighing heavily, Sophia tore her gaze away from the fire and back to Balthazar. "I mean... its not that I wouldn't want to experience that emotion again, to be able to _feel_ that desire, that passion, that love... its the most powerful weapon on Earth and in Heaven..."

"And who says that it isn't possible?" Balthazar wanted to know if there was a chance... if Sophia could open up to the idea of love again then he would find a way to be the person to give her that love.

At that, Sophia tore her gaze away from the fireplace to look at Balthazar with an expression on her face that clearly showed she was surprised to hear him ask her that.

"Well of course its not possible Balthazar! Who on Earth would fall in love with someone like me?" The idea of it seemed ridiculous to her now. "I'm just a broken remanant of an angel who lost her soul-mate nearly thirty years ago and maybe even half of her own soul. Who would be able to think of even liking me?" Sophia let out a half laugh half cry as if she suddenly realized the truth behind her words.

"You are nothing like that!" Balthazar was shocked to hear Sophia say such things about herself. He had to remind her of who she was and how much she was capable of being loved.

Saying this, he took Sophia's hands in his and made her look into his eyes with one hand resting against her cheek.

"Listen to me Sophia..." His voice was soft and gentle, "You are an Archangel, a very powerful one I might add. You hold the abilities of Love and Wisdom, two important qualities that make us more than just cold and emotionless angels, and its because _you_ are the angel who gives us the strength to be like that... and as for being broken, that's old stuff... you have healed a long time ago, if you just believe that someone is out there for you who can fill up that missing half of your soul then nothing can stop you from being happy. Only you can make the choice." He held her gaze for a long time without realizing that she also, sometime during his speech, had unconsciously placed her hand against his cheek.

One heartbeat. Two heartbeats. Three passed. And four. Five heartbeats later, Sophia's lips parted as she was about to say something when all of a sudden... ***CRASH!***

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**Cliffhanger again! Any reviews? **The next chapter is going to be a little filler-ish but the two chapter's after that are filled ONLY with Cas/Aurora... no sign of any other character! ^_^


	48. Chapter 48

I would like to say thank you to my readers for their reviews, even it was only 3! More than one is always welcome! **Valeskathesilverwolf, whitneysheree and joyceeluna, **Thank You!

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own the show. Nor the characters and neither the actors. *sigh*

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The sound of the loud crashing noise from somewhere in the hall was loud enough to reverberate throughout the entire mansion, startling everyone out of their sleep. Upstairs in Aurora's room, Castiel suddenly felt the warmth of her hand vanish as she woke up with a start. She got out of bed and immediately headed towards the door, eager to fight, when she felt Castiel's hand on her wrist.

"Aurora... wait." He said to her calmly, "Do not go outside just yet." Something in his voice told her that he knew what was it that made the noise. Placing one hand against her cheek, Castiel began to calm her down.

"Why? What is it?" Aurora was slowly starting to realize that she had acted impulsively and could have been hurt by acting rashly. "What's out there Cas?" She needed to know.

"Raphael." He answered her directly, not pausing to think over the matter; there was no point in hiding it from her.

The full force of that one word from Castiel's mouth took a few precious seconds for Aurora to process and when it suddenly hit her that the archangel was here, right now, her anger to avenge herself and everyone else who had been harmed because of Raphael only strengthened. She attempted to leave the room again, but Castiel wasn't letting go of her hand.

"Listen to me Aurora..." Castiel knew very well what was going on in her mind, she wanted to kill Raphael. "You are not in a position to face Raphael now, without your Grace you were not able to sense his presence and you are powerless as well." He immediately regretted not having given the Grace to her and was about to do so when the door suddenly opened slowly to reveal Dean and Sam standing there, armed with weapons.

"Who the hell is down there?" Dean hissed angrily to Castiel as the angel realized that the entire house had fallen into darkness, no doubt Raphael's doing. There were noises coming from downstairs, loud inexplicable voices.

"It's Raphael... he is here for Aurora." Castiel answered Dean's question as he unsheathed his angel sword and began to head outside the room quietly, still holding onto Aurora's hand.

"What do you mean by _for_ Aurora?" Sam asked, not liking the sound of Castiel's statement and it being plain to the angel.

"He wants her for Michael, he is hoping to take her to Heaven where she will be killed before she is allowed to interfere with his plans of fighting Lucifer." His voice was grim and cold, he was not going to let Aurora anywhere near Raphael.

"But why not kill her down here?" Dean was in the lead and keeping the rest of the group to the shadows of the corridor, he signalled once to Bobby with a flashlight who was waiting with Jo and Ellen at the other end.

"Isn't it obvious?" Aurora said sarcastically, not liking the fact that she was powerless, "I have five hunters _and _three angels down here to protect me. Once Raphael gets a hold of me, the others will not be able to return to Heaven without facing an ambush from Michael, he'll kill the three of them without thinking twice. He'll do anything to get to me." There was a tone of harshness in her voice suggesting that it was still hard for her to believe that her mentor, the most powerful Archangel had killed her once and was trying to do so again.

"What do we do then?" Sam asked Castiel, hoping the angel had some answer to their dilemma; their priority was to keep Aurora safe and far away from Raphael but they would not be able to hide her for long.

"Balthazar and Sophia are down there, it was how I realized Raphael was inside the house; I could sense the presence of two archangels at first, and then Balthazar's... since Michael's vessel is here with us, it means that Raphael is the archangel downstairs. If I am not mistaken then I believe that we have a secret weapon that can be used against him." Castiel only needed to be close enough to Balthazar in order to tell him of the plan.

"Alright, what do you need us to do?" Dean was hoping he'd get a chance to come face to face with the archangel and... but his thoughts were cut short by Aurora who replied to his question instead of Castiel.

"I'm going down to face him. There is no way I'm staying up here and doing nothing." She was firm in that, "And besides, I have an angel sword, I don't have my Grace but Raphael doesn't need to know that." Aurora added when she saw Dean start to protest.

"Okay... Sammy and Bobby are coming with us," Dean changed his mind and decided to let Aurora do as she pleased. He then turned to Ellen, "Ellen, take Jo and try to get the bloody lights back on. But be careful, Raphael might have bought some of his winged-soldiers with him, they could be hidden outside the house."

Barely ten minutes had passed since the crash from downstairs but Aurora could feel the worry growing inside of her as she followed her brothers quietly towards the hall. Balthazar and Sophia. They were probably hurt or injured... she hoped that Raphael hadn't already...

"_No. I will not let him take anyone else from me!" _Aurora mentally geared herself and set her mind to focus.

The hall was covered in darkness when they reached the bottom of the staircase, it was also empty; there was no sign of either Balthazar or the archangels. A quick look between Dean and Castiel confirmed that all three were still inside the house, just not here. Dean was about to suggest that they split up but a nudge from Sam stopped him and they all turned to see that there was light coming from within the den – a fire had been lit. Moving without making a sound, the group made their way towards the den in the hopes that they would be able to take Raphael by surprise.

From a tiny crack in the door, Dean was able to see what was going on inside the den, though there was no need for that since the archangel's voice was booming loud and clear throuh the door.

"_Come now Sophia..." _Raphael's taunting tone reached Dean and the others, _"I know she is here... I just want to see for myself."_

"_And what exactly do you presume to see? How your plan to kill Aurora failed?" _Sophia's voice sounded firm and unshaken.

"_Is that what you believe? That I had anything to do with Aurora's death?" _The archangel gave a laugh that sent shivers down everyone's spine, _"Why don't you bring her before me and I shall tell you the truth." _

Dean braced himself against the wall and signaled to Bobby to keep Aurora behind him while he, Sam and Castiel were to go inside.

"_I really don't think that is something we can do Raphael." _This time, it was Balthazar who spoke up, _"We already know the truth about what happened that day... so you can get your feathery ass back up to your brother because neither of you are going to come anywhere near my sister." _

"Now Cas..." Dean whispered from outside and leading the way, burst inside the den with Sam and Castiel following behind him_._

The sudden arrival of Castiel gave some relief to Sophia who relaxed for a moment before bringing her guard up again. Raphael turned to face him, finally revealing himself to Dean and Sam. He was a tall, dark skinned man who seemed to radiate power with his presence. Dressed in a business suit the archangel looked like the stern boss who everyone feared; but Dean and Sam weren't going to be affected by his 'presence'. They were going to keep Aurora from coming face to face with him for as long as they could.

"Ah... hello Dean." Raphael addressed him calmly, "Still not willing to let Michael join me down here?" Straight to the point, Dean was expecting that.

"I'd love to..." Dean started to say sarcastically, "But I love me a little too much to kill myself. How about we just kill you instead?" He knew it was dangerous to taunt an Archangel, but Raphael was dangerous murdering archangel who had killed his sister before she was even born and it wasn't something Dean was going to let go easily.

"You dare mock me human? I could kill you in a hundred different ways with a click of my fingers." Raphael was angry now but he remained where he was.

"Yea, heard that one before... but thing is, you can't do anything to me." Dean teased, "I am Michael's _true_ vessel and if he wants a chance to get down here to fight the Devil, he's gonna need me." He grinned, enjoying himself.

Raphael was distracted by Dean's behaviour long enough for Castiel to tell Balthazar what he intended to do, telepathically of course. Sophia was able to listen to the plan, but because Dean was keeping Raphael busy, his attention was diverted from the other angels. But not for long.

"Enough! I grow tired of your pesky games!" Now he was mad. "Bring Aurora to me, or else..." Raphael warned.

"Or what?" It was Sam who spoke this time, he was getting tired of Raphael not really doing anything.

"You dare to speak to me? The vessel of Lucifer?" Raphael turned to face Sam, glaring angrily at him.

"I'm supposedly his vessel, not Lucifer himself. Big difference." Sam pointed out, sounding bored. He was wondering where Castiel suddenly disappeared to, but figured he was supposed to help Dean keep Raphael distracted.

"Do you want to know what I will do if you do not hand over Aurora to me?" Raphael suddenly began to grin, it was one of those evil grins that usually chilled people to the bone and it was having a similar effect on everyone inside the den at that moment.

"Yeah, I'd like to know what your big plan is!" Dean was starting to get a little cautious now, he hoped that Ellen and Jo were safe.

Raphael fell silent for a moment, staring at Dean and Sam with the scary grin not leaving his face; it made him look menacing. When he spoke again, there was a note of seriousness in his voice, "Call Aurora here to me... or else... I kill this lovely angel over here." He tilted his head and stared at Sophia with a look that clearly said he was capable of doing so.

"You wouldn't." Dean called the archangel's bluff. There was no way he would kill another archangel.

"Do you really want to test your theory Dean?" Raphael smirked as he held up his hand and something began to flicker in his palm, pure electricity.

Immediately acting on impulse, Balthazar stepped in front of Sophia and shielded her from Raphael's line of attack.

"My my... this is interesting." Raphael's smirk was replaced by a look of genuine pleasantness that was still creepy. "What do we have here? Balthazar... surely you are not willing to let yourself die for someone like Sophia?" He feigned sadness in his voice, "An archangel, broken beyond the point of healing, practically with no soul... she is nothing Balthazar! Leave these fools and join me... Michael could use a talented angel like yourself." Raphael began to play with his fingers, strumming them together as he waited.

"You're mistaken if you even thought for a second that I would abandon my own sister for you... Aurora died because you had her killed and there's nothing better I'd like to see than your dead heart in my hands." Balthazar's eyes were glowing red in the light of the fire as he spoke, "And I would die for Sophia as I would for Aurora... she is not a broken angel, you are! She holds two of the most powerful abilities that no other angel has ever managed before." He wasn't surprised though, knowing that as long as Castiel's disappearance wasn't concentrated on, Raphael would soon be dead.

"Well, its a pity. You could have had so much potential... but yet, you choose to side with _these_ foolish people... because you're in _love_." Raphael spat the word out as if it were a disease. "You're a fool if you think that she could ever love you back! But at least I'll fulfill your wish of wanting to die together, that can be easily arranged." And once again, he raised his hands threatening to strike Balthazar and Sophia.

"Go ahead." Balthazar sneered at Raphael, "Do it." He was vaguely aware of Sophia's hand sliding into his as he didn't move from in front of her.

Dean and Sam started to move to block the archangel's attack but suddenly found themselves unable to even walk let alone raise a finger; Raphael had used his telekinesis to paralyse them on the spot. Just as he formed the sphere of electrical energy once more and launched it towards the pair of angels who were also frozen still, watching in horror as they were about to be struck by Raphael's power when suddenly the place where Balthazar and Sophia stood was empty.

"What!" A loud yell escaped from Raphael as he spun around trying to see who had thwarted his attack.

"Hello Raphael." It was Castiel. He stood there holding something in one hand, while clutching Aurora's hand in the other.

"You!" The archangel pointed a threatening finger at Aurora. "You are going to die for good this time Aurora! I should have killed you myself instead of that blubbering Zachariah! But now... now the time is come for you to die!" He was boiling with rage as he tried to lunge for her.

But before Raphael could get any closer to Aurora, Castiel had raised his hand and held up a crystal rock in front of the archangel.

"No Raphael, it is your time to die." Aurora spoke and watched with a triumphant gleam on her face as the archangel scream's died as his entire body froze and disintegrated in a matter of seconds.

It was over now, she and Castiel had managed to acquire Lot's Salt and Raphael was finally defeated; they couldn't be sure that it was only his vessel that was gone, the archangel may return someday in another form. But for now, they were safe. Everyone was extremely relieved as the light's also suddenly returned along with Ellen and Jo who joined the others and they all simply slouched down on the sofa's or on the floor just so that they could breathe for a moment, relishing in their first victory of the fight. For some time Dean, Sam, Castiel, Aurora, Balthazar, Sophia, Bobby, Ellen and Jo just lay around relaxing and staying quiet. It was a rare moment for them.

But as always, the family's newfound peace was short-lived as Castiel suddenly stiffened. Aurora who had been laying her head on his shoulder turned to face him and saw that his head was tilted to the side. Someone was sending him a message. She watched along with everyone else as his calm demeanor suddenly turned grim and serious. Less than a minute later, he snapped out of his trance and turned to Aurora with worry in his eyes.

"What is it Cas?" Aurora asked him, she had not seen him look at her in such a sad and anxious manner before. Something was wrong.

"Cas?" Dean tried to see if he could get the angel to speak.

Castiel didn't reply, but when he felt Aurora's delicate hands slide through his and saw the sadness rising in her eyes, he could not help himself. He had to tell her the truth.

"They have her Aurora... Hannah... your friend... Lucifer has her." Castiel said to Aurora, feeling her hands clench tighter around his as the words hit her in full force.

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**Dun-dun-dun! **Reviews anyone?

**A/N:** Cas/Aurora scenes begin from the next chapter, but not from scene one, there's going to be a tiny lead up to the beginning in the start... but still, two whole chapters! ^_^


	49. Chapter 49

Thanks to my readers: **Valeskathesilverwolf, minaghostwolf, whitneysheree, joyceeluna and navybee! ^_^**

**A/N: **Sorry for the long delay and sorry for the disappointing chapter up ahead!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything at all. (40 days till season 7!)

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Aurora felt a cold chill rush through her body as she stared in shock at Castiel. Hannah... she was supposed to be far away from all of this mess in the University. How had Lucifer found her? Had she even left home? What was the Devil doing taking a human hostage alive... that was the only question she had an answer to – Hannah was bait. In order to draw her out.

"Aurora?" Dean's comforting hand squeezed her shoulder and broke through her rambling thoughts.

"I... what does He want?" Aurora asked Castiel, knowing that Lucifer would surely try to lure her into a trap.

Castiel looked into Aurora's eyes and saw that she was determined to do whatever it took to help save her friend; Hannah was innocent and there would be no more innocent blood spilled over this apocalypse.

"You." He replied, not breaking his gaze from her face, "And Sam." Castiel added, his expression changing and becoming serious.

"Why Sam?" Ellen blurted out surprised that Castiel hadn't taken Dean's name.

"Because he wants me to say yes to him." Sam replied sullenly, "Maybe I'm supposed to be exchanged for Aurora's friend." He didn't look scared at that prospect, in fact, he looked prepared.

"The message was from Crowley..." Castiel told everyone adding to their surprise; the demon lord had turned on them, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. "He demanded that Aurora and Sam reach Detroit within an hour or else Hannah..." But the angel didn't want to finish his sentence and so let it hang.

"Hold on a sec... did you just say Detroit, Cas?" Dean's eyes widened as he understood what the Devil was planning. "He knows... he knows we were coming for him... its a trap! We can't just walk in... he probably knows about the rings too. There is no way in hell you two are going." He said turning to his siblings.

"I agree with you Dean," Aurora told him softly, "Which is why I'm going alone." The words had barely left her mouth and already every single person in the room had begun protesting vehemently against her decision.

"Didn't I just say it's a trap?" Dean narrowed his eyes at his sister, "And you can't even be sure that they have Hannah. You could walk in and get killed. Again." He wasn't going to let Aurora go anywhere alone.

"And you don't get to decide if I come with you or not. That's my choice." Sam started to tell Aurora, "And whether you like it or not, I am coming." He was firm.

"No. You're not coming Sammy." Aurora retaliated as she stood up, "There's a reason why you aren't coming with me. And its because I will not let you hand yourself over to Lucifer."

"Again. My choice." Sam was oddly calm about his argument, if it could called be an argument.

"I'm sorry but it isn't your choice." Aurora said as she shook her head, "You don't get it do you? I'm protecting you and Dean because of our parents!" Her last line was a little louder as she tried to stress how important their safety was to her.

"What do you mean by that?" Bobby asked Aurora eyeing her curiously; she never knew her parents after she was born.

"What I mean is that I promised Mary and John that I would protect Dean and Sam with my life no matter the cost. There's a reason why I possessed Ashley of all people! I could have taken anyone else as my vessel to save my life... but why would I choose someone who wasn't supposed to be born? I could have gone back to Amy, but I didn't! Don't you wonder I chose to save Ashley Winchester's life?" She finished, and waited while she caught her breath for someone to speak.

"You saying that you chose our sister for a reason other than to save your life?" Sam asked Aurora.

"Yes." Aurora replied in a monotone.

"Alright, then tell us why you did it. I'm out of answers." Dean sounded a little angry but wasn't letting it show.

"I... I chose to save Ashley specifically because I knew that by taking her as my vessel, I would have the family blood inside me. The Winchester blood that makes us unique... makes us the true vessels of Michael and Lucifer... and me." Aurora added that last word with a tiny whisper.

"True vessel of you?" It was Jo's turn to speak up now, "You mean that... your true vessel is Ashley?" She took a wild guess and hoped the pieces fit together.

"She is. And while I know that I can take anyone else as my vessel, having Winchester blood in me makes me stronger and it'll be easier for me to fight Lucifer." Aurora explained and then, "I need to leave now. I know that there is a chance that Hannah is safe but I will call my superior at the university to see if she's there." She wasn't going to waste more time knowing that her friend's life could be at stake.

"I'll go and check her house to see if there are signs of a break-in or anything." Balthazar told Aurora, knowing that if he went to South Dakota, it would save them time.

With that, he vanished leaving Aurora to turn to Sophia now. She needed only one thing to guarantee that she would be able to successfully defeat Lucifer.

"Sophia... I remember asking you to keep my Grace safely hidden away from everyone, including myself. Do you still have it?" Aurora knew that her hope rested on getting her abilities back for without her Grace, she was still human.

Hearing Aurora ask about her Grace, Sophia sighed deeply as she sat down in the spot where Balthazar had just been moments ago and instead of looking at Aurora, she turned to face Castiel who was a little anxious now. Unfortunately, Aurora caught this exchange between the two of them.

"Cas?" She looked at him with a questioning glance, "Do you know anything about my Grace?" Aurora began to wonder what was going on.

"Uh..." Sam, who was clueless about the truth was about to say something, but a nudge from Dean told him to be quiet. They had to wait this out.

"What's going on Sophia?" Aurora was confused now, "Where is my Grace? You still have it don't you?" She was getting worried.

"Sophia does not have it..." Castiel finally answered her, but didn't meet her eyes. "It is with me." Saying so, he reached in and removed the chain from his neck, showing everyone the vial which held Aurora's grace.

For a full minute, no one said a word; all eyes were on Aurora, who was staring at Castiel silently, dozens of questions running through her mind but didn't ask a single one. She quietly made her way to him and held her hand out for him to give her grace. Their eyes met once and Castiel realized that he should not have kept her grace from her without saying anything.

"Thank you." She whispered softly as she took it from his hands. There was so much she wanted to know but now was not the time.

"Are you still planning on going without me?" Sam asked Aurora, literally cracking the silence that had fallen over the den.

"Yes. I am." Aurora gazed at Castiel once more, before turning around to Sam and smiled at him. "Don't worry, I have a plan. You're not going to like it... but its better than handing you over to become Lucifer's meatsuit." She grinned at that.

"What's your plan then? Waltz into a building full of demons and the devil himself and walk out with Hannah?" Dean suggested sarcastically.

"Not exactly. You're close though." Aurora smiled brightly at her brother. "I'm giving Lucifer the next best thing after Sammy... the rings."

"WHAT?" Sam, Dean, Bobby and Jo exclaimed simultaneously.

"You can't be serious." This was from Jo.

"That's madness... you know that giving the rings is equal to suicide." Sam wasn't happy to hear this coming from Aurora who not only was his sister but a powerful angel as well.

"Do you know how long it took us to get those rings?" Dean was literally yelling at this point.

"It's a bad idea. Won't work." Bobby was always simple and to the point whenever he had to speak his mind.

"Guys!" Aurora literally had to yell to calm the four hunters down, "Relax. Calm down. I know what I'm doing and I know its dangerous, there's a lot at stake if Lucifer gets the horsemen's rings back. But I'm not changing my mind." She explained to them.

"Do you have the rings with you?" Ellen asked her, not looking too pleased about this idea but knew she nor anyone else wasn't going to change Aurora's mind.

"Yes. I do. Balthazar gave them to me." Aurora removed the rings from around her own neck where she had strung them together.

And as soon as she took Balthazar's name, he walked inside the den dusting his long black jacket.

"Bad news I'm afraid... the girl's gone. It looks like demons ransacked the place as well. I had to stick around for a few minutes to ask your neighbours. Some girl on the 8th floor said she saw Hannah leaving with her _uncle_ Crowley." He made a face as he said that, but on realizing what it meant, he went to Aurora.

"I'm fine..." She told her brother before he even asked, "I'm going and getting her back. Alone."

"I'm not going to stop you _mei-mei_ but if I were you, I'd take someone with me. Not Sam of course, too obvious. Dean can't go either in case Lucifer tries to get Michael down here..." Balthazar started to ramble on, "Another angel is out of the question too so... that leaves us with..."

"Me." Jo piped in. "I'm going with you Aurora." She volunteered. "And I know its dangerous, but she needs someone who isn't expendable." This is said directly to her mother and to Dean.

"I could use your help Jo." Aurora told the young hunter honestly and sincerely. "But we have to go now. There's just over half an hour left. I'm going to teleport us there directly, they know I'm an angel again so might as well act like one." She smiled as she moved closer to the center, far away from everyone else.

"We have to close our eyes don't we?" Dean stated, knowing what Aurora was planning to do next. Seeing her nod, the 5 hunters turned around and shut their eyes.

Aurora took one look at Castiel, Balthazar and Sophia before taking the vial in her hand. "Here goes nothing." She said and smashed the bottle on the floor.

Immediately light flooded the entire den as the bluish white smoke started to envelope her completely, entering through her mouth and filling her body with light. As soon as her eyes began to glow, there was a bright flash of brightness and it disappeared as soon as it had come. Aurora stood leaning against the sofa breathing heavily as she adjusted to her powers again.

"I'm ready." She said, snapping back to the present, her mind had been flooded with a surge of power but she managed to control it.

"Are you sure you have your abilities back?" Jo asked Aurora, looking at the angel a little differently.

In reply, Aurora smiled at Jo and held out her hand, but unlike Castiel who summoned fire usually, a bright sphere of golden light filled her palm and then was extinguished as she closed it.

"I think I do." Aurora sounded the same, looked the same, the only difference was she was a real angel again. "Shall we leave?" She asked Jo.

"Be safe you two!" Dean and Sam told the ladies as they grasped hands and vanished, leaving everyone else standing alone in the den, praying that Aurora's plan would work.

In the dark, cold and deserted town of Detroit, Aurora and Jo landed outside an abandoned street that was lit only by the moon's light. The entire block was empty and there was a slight fog blanketing the lanes. It looked as if no one was living there and no one had been for years now. Before Aurora had left, she had taken her angel sword from Castiel and Jo had taken Ruby's knife from Dean; both weapons were now unsheathed as the two of them made their way across the street.

"Wait." Aurora suddenly stopped, holding her arm out to shield Jo behind her. "They're here." She could feel their presence... demons were nearby.

"Where?" Jo looked around at the buildings around them before coming to a stop outside a particularly desecrated building. It was the one that stood out because there was a shadowy figure standing outside, the only living creature apart from them. Crowley.

"Welcome ladies." The demon lord grinned at them as he made his way over to them, his hands wide open, revealing half a dozen demons standing behind him.

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**Uh-oh! Scary cliffhanger! Less scary reviews please?**

**A/N: **Sorry! I know I promised the Cas/Aurora scenes in this chapter and in the next, but first I had to deal with Hannah's kidnapping. As soon as Jo and Aurora rescue her (if they do) in the next chapter, the two after those will 1000000000% have the Cas/Aurora scenes. Cross my heart. Don't be mad everyone!


	50. Chapter 50

Here's to my readers for standing by me: **valeskathesilverwolf, whitneysheree, minaghostwolf and joyceeluna!** Thank You! ^_^

**A/N: **Here it is! The penultimate chapter before the Cas/Aurora chapters begin! ^_^

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"_Welcome ladies." The demon lord grinned at them as he made his way over to them, his hands open in welcome. _

Aurora and Jo stood where they were, their weapons half raised in warning to show Crowley that they would fight if it came down to that. He seemed to have realized that for when he reached closer to them, the demon shook his head, as if disappointed.

"Now, now ladies... there's no need for that here." Crowley grinned at them and in a gesture of good faith, he signaled to the demons behind him to lower their weapons as well. "See? We just want to have a friendly exchange, Sam Winchester for your precious human friend. Where is he?"

"He will be here when the time is right." Aurora replied without any hesitance in her voice.

"Right. Then shall we proceed?" Crowley gestured to them to follow him inside the building.

"You sneaky little..." Jo started to speak but Aurora hushed her, "You were supposed to be on our side... didn't you want your darling father dead? You gave us the Colt..." She whispered angrily.

"Ah yes... well... I was mistaken..." The color from his face had drained slightly at Jo's mention of his earlier dabbles on the good side.

"What changed your mind?" Jo wanted to know even though she wasn't surprised that he had betrayed them. Once a demon always a demon. None of them were ever good.

"Hmm... I suppose there's no harm in telling you..." Crowley's voice wandered off as the group had reached inside the depths of the building and were now making their way to the top floor. "My darling father, as you so sweetly pointed out, has promised me... control of Purgatory once we win this war." There was an evil smirk on his face and Jo wanted nothing more than a chance to wipe the floor with it but she kept her control.

"Jolly good for you." Jo mumbled under the breath and then fell silent, causing Crowley to turn to Aurora now.

"So... you're the angel then eh? We've been trying to get you on our side for a long time now... I'm surprised its been so hard... a little birdie has spilled that you only just got your powers back... if I had to..." But Crowley never finished his sentence because Aurora cut him off.

"But if I'm not mistaken then you _did_ try to capture me yourself too." Aurora couldn't help and smiled, "And powers or not, I am still an angel..." She left it at that because they had finally reached the top floor of the dilapidated building.

The moment she and Jo crossed the threshold, they were immediately surrounded by a bigger group of demons and taken into a huge empty room and as soon as they entered, a wave of chill passed through them... the two of them could feel the power radiating throughout the room. At the end of the room by the window stood a tall man with his back to them; he turned around as if knowing that they were there.

"Welcome." Lucifer said with a bright smile crossing his face, which was still peeling off and giving a look of being deathly ill. The red patches of skin was not a pleasant sight nor was the cunning smile because the Devil never smiled. Not without reason.

Aurora and Jo had stiffened and fallen silent at the sight of him; his presence itself was strong enough to render them a little vulnerable, but they were not about to falter. Hannah's life was at stake here.

"Where is she?" Aurora demanded, getting directly to the matter at hand. She wanted her friend now and needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Lucifer motioned to his demons to leave them, save for Crowley before finally turning his full attention to Aurora.

"Ah... you must be... Aurora..." The smile that replaced his previous one was unnerving because of the way Lucifer was staring at her. There was a hunger in his eyes and it was starting to affect Aurora a little.

Before she could even react, Lucifer had snatched her hand up and placed a kiss upon it; disgusted, Aurora tried to pull away but his hold was strong on her. Lucifer grinned as he relished in his first tiny victory, Aurora was powerless against him.

"Let go of me. Now." Her voice was stern and cold. She wasn't going to let herself be affected by him.

"Is this any way to behave? You are my guest here... for now." Lucifer winked at her as he said those words.

"Where have you hidden Hannah? You called me here... I want her back." Aurora wasn't falling for any more games, they needed to get out before Lucifer realized Sam wasn't coming.

"My my... so feisty... I like it..." Lucifer teased as he finally let go of Aurora's hand and walked back to the window. "You want your human back? I want my vessel back. Give me Sam and I'll give you the girl."

"Sam isn't coming." There was no point in dragging it on now. Aurora was ready with her counter-offer.

Crowley was about to say something when he heard Aurora's words, but Lucifer held his hand up, silencing the demon. The Devil turned back to face Aurora and Jo who was being shielded by the angel.

"What did you say?" His anger was starting to take over, Aurora and Jo could see it... the window behind Lucifer that had been frozen with ice was starting to crack on its own.

"I'm not giving Sam over to you for him to become your puppet." Aurora wasn't going to reveal her true identity, no one knew that she was Ashley Winchester and no one was about to find out.

The window cracking was the only noise in the room now; within seconds it had reached the point of shattering but Lucifer managed to reign in his anger and controlled his powers.

"Well then I'm sorry to say that our deal is off then. No Sam, no Hannah. You may leave now." Lucifer turned away and began to head out of the room but Aurora stopped him.

"I have something else." She called out. "Something that you need as much as you need Sam." Aurora was a little tense now, she hoped her plan would work.

"Something else?" Lucifer couldn't help but let out a laugh that sent chills down Aurora and Jo's spines. "My dear... there is nothing else I need but my true vessel. With Sam, I can control the world. As for you and your hunter friend, I will let you leave unharmed. But let me tell you this Aurora... I have plans for you... big plans." His eyes began to gleam as he headed back to where she stood.

Aurora stepped backwards distancing herself from Lucifer, if he planned to attack her now, she had to be far away from Jo, giving her plenty of time to attack Crowley and try to escape. Almost as if reading her mind, Lucifer stopped closing the space between him and Aurora, raising his hands to show that he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Don't worry, now is not the right time. But when the moment _is_ right... when Sam helps me to win this war... I am going to keep you alive... oh yes, very much alive. Do you want to know why?" But instead of allowing Aurora to speak, Lucifer continued, "I intend on making you... my Angel of Darkness..." He seemed pleased with himself.

"Never." Aurora recoiled at the thought of... she shuddered inwardly, there was no way she was going to give herself over to Lucifer, in any way.

"Never say never my sweet angel, what has to happen will happen... it is inevitable. Why do you think I had sent my best lieutenants after you? Not to kill you, no! I want you alive, by my side. With our combined powers, we can rule the Earth and Heaven as well." Lucifer knew that Aurora was the second most powerful Angel after Michael and could be of use.

"I'd rather die before letting you anywhere near Heaven. Or better yet, I'll make sure you die before that happens." Aurora smirked at him, knowing that she was playing her game now.

"Mmm... I have to admire your faith in yourself Aurora... but we shall see about that... for now, I am interested in this new offer of yours... it might just change my mind about killing Hannah and sweet Joanna here..." Lucifer tilted his head slightly, "She survived Meg's hellhounds once, but twice?" He had turned the tables back in his favor.

Without waiting any longer, Aurora reached to her neck and revealed the chain on which hung the four horsemen rings. The gleam in Lucifer's eyes shone as he realized what he was looking at. Without thinking, he reached out and took the necklace in his hands staring at it as if it was the most precious treasure he had found.

"Where did you get these?" Lucifer snapped out of his daze and was back to being more Devilish again.

"That doesn't matter, what does though is that you give me Hannah now... you have the rings with you..." Aurora hoped that she was unharmed.

Lucifer let out another of his maniacal laughs before speaking again, "Do you realize what you have just done little angel? You've given me the keys to my cage... and the power of my horsemen lie in these rings... with them, they shall be powerful once more and will help me wreak chaos on Earth! You my dear, have just brought the apocalypse on your head... who will stop me now?" He felt like a 5 year old child now, beaming with thrill as he held onto the rings.

"I know what this means..." Aurora replied calmly, "Do you think that I would just give away something so powerful to _you_ without knowing what it would do? No... I know very well that this makes things more difficult now... but not impossible. The apocalypse will end... with me killing you." She stressed on the last four words to prove that she hadn't admitted defeat.

"Tempting..." Lucifer seemed to be thinking about this new change in his plans, "Very well then Aurora... if you wish to save your precious humans then you shall be the one to fight me. But let's make things a little interesting shall we? If I win then you will surrender to me and become my Angel of Darkness... and I will spare the lives of your friends... oh yes, I am truthful to my word and very generous at that."

"And if I win?" Aurora asked... "I will send you back to your cage." She answered her own question.

"We'll see about that." Lucifer winked at Aurora before addressing Crowley, "What do you think Crowley? Shall we let them have their human friend after all?"

"We do have the rings... father. I don't see the harm in letting the girl go..." Crowley tried to maintain his composure, clearly the demon who was once King of the Crossroads wasn't used to being treated any less than he deserved.

"I think you're right. Very well, go and fetch the girl..." Lucifer suddenly sounded bored.

With great difficulty, Crowley bowed down before Lucifer and then left the room. There was an eerie and prolonged silence as the three of them waited for Crowley to return again. Aurora had quietly moved back towards Jo and gripped the young hunter's hand tightly, never letting herself lose sight of Lucifer who was pacing up and down whistling to himself and occasionally frosting the glass with a touch of his hand or staring intently at Aurora with a menacing glare. Finally there were loud footsteps approaching and soon Crowley was back, this time holding onto his prisoner.

"Ashley!" Hannah screamed in delight when she saw Aurora standing there.

Hannah immediately shook herself free from Crowley and ran across the room and hugged her friend tightly as she began to let the tears flow freely.

"Oh Ashley! What's going on? Who are these people...? Why did they take me? They said they wanted someone called Aurora..." Hannah started asking all the questions that were flooding her mind.

"Hannah... hush... its alright, you're safe now. Nothing's going to happen to you. I'll explain everything when we get back okay?" Aurora whispered to her friend as she held her tight in her arms.

"What's this Aurora?" Lucifer suddenly spoke up, pretending to be shocked, "You haven't told her the truth have you?" He was enjoying this immensly, knowing it would work.

"Ashley?" Hannah suddenly stepped back a little and for the first time she saw the woman she thought was her friend with blue and purple eyes? "No... you... you're not Ashley... are you?" The young girl was confused and shaken up.

"Of course its me Hannah... I... I'm Ashley..." This was not the way Aurora had thought she would be telling Hannah the truth, not with the Devil of all beings present to taunt them.

"Then why did... he... just call you Aurora...?" Hannah raised a trembling figure to point at Lucifer. She had seen what the Devil was capable of but was refusing her mind to accept it.

"Because she is Aurora..." Lucifer calmly replied, interrupting the conversation once more. "Why don't you explain everything to Hannah?" He was definitely taking this as far as he could.

"It's complicated Hannah..." Aurora started to say to her friend, "I promise you, once we get home, I'll tell you everything. But please, can we leave now? Its dangerous here..."

"Now now..." Lucifer suddenly seemed to have changed his mind for he moved towards the door and blocked their way out. "Aurora dear... you must tell Hannah the truth about who you really are first... I can't let you leave without making sure of that now can I?"

"Who she really is?" Hannah was scared now and dropped Aurora's hand from hers, backing away unfortunately it made her closer to Crowley.

"Yes! Dear me... am I going to have to do the honors myself?" Lucifer shook his head, pretending to be sad, "Hannah... your darling friend Ashley here... isn't really Ashley... nor is she human for that matter. She's an angel by the name Aurora..."

"No... you... you're lying! There's no such things as angels... or... or demons for that matter." Hannah cried out, she wasn't going to believe any of this.

"Enough!" Aurora screamed out and ran over to grab Hannah's hand.

Before Lucifer or Crowley could react, Jo had joined them and together the three of them vanished as Aurora teleported them away to safety back to Sophia's mansion in Illinois. The moment they landed inside the house, Dean and Sam had rushed over to help them.

"We're fine... I'm fine... Dean." Jo managed to blurt out as she tried to free herself from being squeezed to death. He had enveloped her in a bear hug the second he had seen that she was safe again.

"Dean?" Hannah's trembling voice broke through as she realized that he was in the same room with Ashley. "What are you doing here? Where am I?" She turned around and her gaze fell on Sam and the others who were coming into the hall behind him.

"Hannah..." Aurora placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You're safe now."

"Safe!" Hannah let out a choked laugh, "I don't know what happened to me Ashley! One minute I was on my way to the airport and the next I... I remember... black eyes... he... that... man Crowley was there in my house with someone else... black eyes... he had black eyes Ashley! And they kept calling the other one Lucifer... that's ridiculous right? I mean... Lucifer... the... the Devil?" She let out a cry and sunk onto the sofa burying her head in her hands.

Everyone in the room fell silent while Aurora quietly sat herself down next to Hannah and took her in her arms again.

"He called you Aurora... said... you were an angel... and just now... we... we were in Detroit... now... where are we? How did we get here?" Hannah asked her friend.

"We're in Illinois, Hannah." Aurora calmly answered as she held onto Hannah's hands. "I brought us here."

"Then... that means... you're... you're an angel?" Hannah felt the shock taking a toll on her.

"Yes. I am an angel, and my name isn't Ashley Collins... its Aurora..." She replied softly and braced herself for the reaction or outburst or whatever Hannah would say to her.

"Umm... okay... I... uh... I think I need to lie down now..." Hannah removed her hands from Ashley's slowly and folded them on her lap. This was not what Aurora had expected.

"Of course. Jo, would you...?" Aurora turned to Jo, realizing that it was best if Hannah had some time alone to herself.

"Sure." Jo nodded and came towards Hannah, who took her hand and allowed herself to be led upstairs to one of the rooms.

While they were gone, Aurora turned to face the others, trying to think of what to say to them first. The only thing on her mind at that moment was the last words that Lucifer had screamed out before she had escaped, they were ringing in her mind.

"_You're too late Aurora! I've already begun the Apocalypse! Tomorrow marks the beginning of the end!"_

"Aurora?" Sophia's gentle voice broke through Lucifer's manic voice. "What happened?"

"Tomorrow marks the beginning of the end..." Aurora repeated the last words she heard from Lucifer.

"What?" Dean sounded confused.

"I think... I think I know what he meant..." Aurora said softly as she remembered something else.

"Aurora, what are you talking about?" Dean asked her, nothing was making sense to him or to everyone else.

"Lucifer... before we escaped... he said that... and I managed to read Crowley's mind when I heard those words... I know what it means..." She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Dean, there's going to be an outbreak of the Croatoan virus tomorrow."

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**Uh-oh! Reviews? Hehehehe... Big chapter! Lolz!**

**A/N: **So as promised, the next 2 or maybe even 3 chapters will have Cas/Aurora scenes... the next one will have a little bit of a build up first because they're obviously not going to suddenly run away together for some alone time... and it might be up sooner than you think! ^_^


	51. Chapter 51

To: **valeskathesilverwolf, minaghostwolf, joyceeluna and whitneysheree**, thank you for your lovely reviews and patience... here is the chapter you all have been waiting for! ^_^

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

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A stunned silence filled the hall as the angels and the hunters all dropped down and tried to figure out what was to be done now. They had barely recovered from one encounter and already the fight was coming to them again; but this time it was larger than usual, it was the first fight of the Apocalypse and the horsemen had played a big hand.

Dean was the only one who knew what the world would turn into if the virus was unleashed; people would turn into monsters, killing off each other until there wouldn't be anyone left. He had to do something to stop the virus from being released, but the problem was that it could be anywhere, probably already on the verge of finding its way into cities.

"We gotta do something boy!" Bobby yelled, bringing Dean back to reality. The older hunter had been pacing up and down, trying to come up with a plan.

"I know Bobby... and I think I have an idea... me and Sammy will have to leave right now..." Dean announced, knowing that there was an easier way to go through with the plan, but the hard way would work better.

"To go where Dean?" Sam asked his older brother, brows frowning, he didn't understand what Dean was suggesting.

"We're going to see Chuck... he'll have the answers we need. All of them." It surprised him that none of them had thought of speaking to the Prophet before now.

"Its dangerous to go alone Dean..." Ellen spoke up, "And especially in the middle of the night, its past 2 in the morning already."

"If we go any later than this, who knows what will happen by the time we get there. The virus can be released in one city or dozens at the same time. Chuck can help us and if we go now we'll be able to stop it all before it gets too late." Dean explained.

"Alright, but I'm coming with you two... someone's gotta take care of the Winchester's or else our sister will have our necks." Balthazar grinned and then ducked as Aurora tried to smack him on the head but missed.

"I will not have your necks!" Aurora fumed, but realized it was pointless because she wasn't really angry at Balthazar, "But I think it _is_ better if you go with them, my dear sweet brother." This time she was the one who smiled brightly at her brother, hoping he would leave soon. Sometimes having a brother was a little annoying and now Aurora had three!

"Cas? Aren't you coming with us?" Sam suddenly asked the other angel realizing that he had been quiet all this time.

Castiel who had been sitting beside Ellen, stood up then and met Aurora's gaze for a second before turning to Sam.

"No. I think I will stay here and keep an eye on the girls with Bobby. Balthazar is enough protection from Lucifer and his army, they will not try to directly attack any of us just yet." Castiel explained. He needed some alone time... hopefully with Aurora.

"Cas is right Sammy... I think we'll be safe with one angel babysitter." Dean punched Balthazar lightly on the shoulder.

"I prefer the term bodyguard Dean... but I think babysitter would fit better..." Balthazar remarked with a cheeky grin.

"Hey!" Dean was about to say something but luckily for him, Aurora stepped in the middle.

"Dean. Don't you boys need to figure out how and where to go meet Chuck?" Leave it to Aurora to try and make her brothers calm again.

"Yea you're right... let's go get our stuff ready Dean." Sam literally pulled Dean away, with Balthazar following them chuckling, he knew that this road-trip was going to be nothing but pure fun.

Once they had left, Ellen suggested that the best thing that they all could do was to get some rest since it was going to be long day ahead tomorrow for everyone. Aurora and Sophia were now sharing rooms since Hannah had moved in with Jo and Ellen was sleeping in Aurora's old room. While the boys were getting ready to leave, the others had already retired to their respective bedrooms. Less than half an hour later, Dean, Sam and Balthazar had planned that it was safer if they drove one way at least to meet Chuck. Just as they were heading downstairs, they bumped into Aurora who was on her way to her room from the kitchen.

"Oh, hey sis!" The three of them chirped simultaneously, grinning proudly and stupidly.

Aurora raised an eyebrow at them, knowing that they must have planned this. It was definitely Dean's idea.

"Hello brother's three." She replied to them with a sweet smile. "All set to go then?" She asked, wondering why they would take their duffel bag of weapons with them.

"Its just precaution." Sam told her as if he had read her mind, "We always need some back up in the car."

Aurora only nodded as she began to head towards her room when Dean suddenly caught hold of her wrist but luckily by then Sam and Balthazar had already reached the main entrance.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Dean asked Aurora, not letting go of his hold on her, which was starting to worry her a little. Something was wrong.

"Of course you can Dean, what is it?" She hoped that he was just stretching his dramatics.

"You should talk to Cas while we're gone. Its the perfect opportunity for you. We're going to be gone for a few hours at the least and everyone else is already asleep... he's waiting for you on the terrace." He added before Aurora could say anything.

"I... uh... I was planning on doing that Dean, thanks for the heads up though." Aurora was a tiny bit nervous now; Castiel had specifically told Dean to call her up to the terrace.

"Don't worry, once you two talk and sort things out... I'm sure you'll spend the rest of the night..." Dean let his sentence trail off suddenly realizing what he was saying.

"Dean!" Aurora had turned bright red with her blush covering her face, "I am not about to start discussing my love life with you!" Luckily this time, she was able to swat him on the shoulder before leaving Dean to his weird thoughts.

Turning around once, Aurora sighed with relief when she saw that the corridor was empty now and surely enough, a few seconds later she heard the front doors closing quietly as Dean made his way out. She shook her head and muttered something about her brothers before she went towards Sophia's room intending to let her know that she was going to the terrace for a little while. But on reaching there, Aurora saw that the archangel was already fast asleep and so she left the room quietly and went to check on Hannah but found that she and Jo were asleep as well. Knowing that everyone was already sleeping, Aurora headed towards the upper floor and made her way to the terrace.

It was pleasant as she stepped out onto the terrace, her bare feet touching the cold marble floor. The wind was gently blowing through her hair raising it in small waves now and then. Aurora walked towards the other end of the terrace where she remembered seeing a swing, somehow she knew that was where she would find him. The night was peaceful and there was enough moonlight shining from behind a cluster of clouds, casting a serene glow around Aurora as she walked without making a noise.

"You came." She heard his voice before seeing him standing near the parapet, turning around to meet her gaze.

Aurora believed that Castiel had a gift; he could always sense her presence before she was aware of him. It was something different than what she had with Balthazar, sometimes she believed that he would just tell her that he could sense her presence to make her feel better, but with Castiel it was different. They had been around each other a lot ever since her memories had returned to her but this was the first time that they were truly alone. Downstairs, the entire house was sleeping and Dean wouldn't return till late morning.

"I had to come." She replied, smiling at him and enjoying this moment, this is what they both had been waiting for. "You called me here didn't you?"

Instead of saying anything else, Castiel left his position by the parapet and walking to where Aurora stood, closed the distance between them until he could see her bluish purple eyes staring into his own blue ones and she could feel his breath tickling her cheek.

"Is your friend Hannah all right?" He asked her, tilting his head slightly to watch her more closely.

"She was sleeping in Jo's room when I went to check on her... I hope she'll be fine by morning." Aurora tried to keep her face straight but knew Castiel would see right through her.

And he did. Castiel knew that Aurora was not only worried about Hannah but was also worrying about their friendship. Knowing that he wasn't very good with words to explain himself, Castiel placed a hand on her cheek, "She needs a little time... I am sure once you explain everything to Hannah, she will understand." He hopes it is enough.

"Thank you... I think I just needed to hear that." Aurora brightened as she took Castiel's hand in hers and held onto them tightly.

"Are you alright?" Castiel had sensed that there was still something else that was on Aurora's mind that was bothering her.

"Yes of course, I'm feeling better now... Hannah just needs some time and by tomorrow she'll be fine." Aurora eased her hold on Castiel's hands because they both knew what he was really trying to say.

"I did not mean Hannah... there is something else on your mind... did something happen when you went to Detroit?" He didn't leave his gaze from her eyes because he could see the truth in them.

On hearing Castiel mention Detroit, Aurora's mind returned to her encounter with Lucifer and she remembered his words... his plans for wanted her as his angel of darkness; as soon as she recalled those words, her hand unconsciously squeezed Castiel's making him snap his head to look at her with worry in his eyes.

"What is it?" He asked her, mentioning Detroit had sent a shiver down Aurora's spine and she hadn't even noticed it.

"Nothing... its nothing..." But this time, she couldn't look back into his eyes... everytime she thought of what Lucifer had said to her, Aurora felt a chill seep through her entire body and it was as if it was going to stay there.

Castiel knew it wasn't nothing but didn't push it just yet. Taking her hand in his once again, he led her away from the edge of the terrace towards the swing and made her sit down before taking his place next to her. The swing wasn't a typical modern one, it was a huge gold swing with the seat as big as a matress on which Sophia had draped an ivory silk cover and had placed several pillows on it. Aurora reached behind and laid against the comfortable back-rest while quietly snuggling under Castiel's left shoulder that was waiting patiently for her. She knew that he was giving her the time she needed to bring herself to tell him what had transpired in Detroit and after a few minutes of laying there together silently, Aurora decided she was ready.

"Cas..." She started to say, unsure of how to go about telling him what Lucifer had said to her and what it really meant. "I... you were right when you said... that something happened when Jo and I went to Detroit to get Hannah..." The beginning was always a good place to start.

"And you met Lucifer." It wasn't a question nor really a statement from Castiel, but Aurora was grateful that he was the one to mention the name and not her.

"I did. And... I... I found out the reason why there are demons after me as well..." Aurora was far from backing out now, she needed to tell Castiel everything. "He... Lucifer..." She shuddered inwardly even as she said the Devil's name but went on speaking, "He said that he did not want me... dead like Michael and Raphael had planned..." For a moment there Aurora faltered.

Castiel had remained silent while listening to her and even now, without saying anything, he took Aurora's right hand in his and slowly began to carress it, running circles over her soft skin. It was enough to remind Aurora that he was still there with her. They didn't always need words to talk to each other.

"Lucifer told me, instead of killing me... he wanted to use me... to get control over Heaven and Earth. He said... I would be his angel of darkness, Cas." Aurora's last words were a mere whisper, but she knew that he had heard her for she felt his hand suddenly squeeze hers a little tightly.

Holding onto his hand, Aurora suddenly sat up just enough so that she could turn behind and look at Castiel, who had suddenly become as still as a statue and his eyes were shut. Slightly scared but relieved that she had gotten that weight off her chest, Aurora gently raised her hand to his face and touched his cheek. He opened his eyes and for a full minute, Castiel and Aurora simply stayed in that position staring at each other... until the silence was broken.

"I will not let anything happen to you." Castiel's voice was quiet but firm, "No matter what happens, Lucifer won't touch you... I promise that." He wasn't angry but yet Aurora could feel it growing inside him.

"I know that Cas..." She acknowledged and then turned around so that her head now lay against his chest where she could hear his heartbeat and knew it would calm him down.

They sat in silence again for a little while; Aurora had closed her eyes but wasn't sleeping and Castiel was watching her with a small smile crossing his features every now and then as if he couldn't believe that she was here with him, in his arms. A sudden tremble underneath alerted him and he looked down to see that Aurora was shivering slightly.

"You're cold." He said to her, realizing just then that she wasn't dressed warmly; the clothes she had worn earlier had been swapped for something more comfortable – another one of Sophia's sleeveless silk dresses.

"I... I guess I forgot to carry a blanket." Aurora replied with a tiny smile; she hadn't expected the terrace to be so cold, but then again, it was already 3 in the morning.

Castiel grinned but did not laugh when he heard Aurora's excuse and instead sat upright, moving her away from him as he removed his trenchcoat and draped it around her before settling together once again with Aurora in his arms, her back against his chest and arms encircled around her waist.

"Better?" He suddenly asked her.

"Much." She replied her smile growing wider by the minute as she laid her head against his shoulder. "You did the same thing for me when I woke up yesterday morning." Aurora reminded him, referring to their early morning encounter where he had given her his trenchcoat.

"I remember..." Castiel replied softly, the memory was still fresh in his mind, "You were shivering because of the cold... just like you are now." He said to her.

"Not really..." Aurora recalled that memory and realized why she had been trembling that morning, "I was actually shivering because I was around you..." She confessed.

Castiel looked down at the woman in his arms with a confused expression, "What do you mean?" He asked her, wondering what she was trying to tell him.

Aurora let out a tiny giggle when she saw Castiel looking at her like that, "I mean that before getting my memories back... when I was still Ashley, I was very nervous and shy around you." She explained.

"You were shy and nervous around me?" The idea of that didn't seem to sound too incredulous to Castiel, rather it amused him slightly.

"Yes I was. I didn't know how to behave whenever I was with you... I think I had feelings for you even as Ashley, even though I didn't remember us."

Aurora's words made Castiel recall something else as he remembered the night that he had met her... Ashley... after saving her from the hellhounds.

"When I carried you from the attack... after the hellhounds were defeated, you said my name... how did you know it was me if you did not have your memories back?"

"I guess that there was a part of me inside Ashley, in my subconscious that knew it was you and without realizing it myself I must have called out to you."

"Yes. That must have been it." Castiel's voice suddenly took on a more serious tone and Aurora caught on to it.

"Cas? Is something on your mind?" She asked him, wishing she was as good as reading him as he could read her.

For a moment or two, Castiel didn't say anything but he knew that Aurora would make sure she got him to talk no matter what, and so taking a deep breath, he decided to tell her what was on his mind.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier... I had your Grace with me during the past few days and yet I did not immediately give it..." Castiel was suddenly cut off when he felt Aurora's hand covering his mouth.

She had turned around and was now sitting in front of him on her heels, holding his mouth shut with one hand.

"Don't say sorry Cas... there's no need to... I know perfectly well why you were hesitant to give me my grace back and I'm not mad at you... I can never be mad at you!" She told him, hoping that he would understand.

They were close to each other now, barely a few inches apart and Castiel could see himself getting lost in Aurora's eyes as he gazed into the whirlpool of blue and purple; but he managed to get a hold of himself and broke their sudden stillness when he reached out to tuck a lock of her golden hair behind her ear. She shivered at his touch and closed her eyes, making Castiel smile. Aurora may have been a powerful fighter but when it came to being around him, he knew that she always went weak in the knees.

The wind had died down a little while ago and save for their breathing and heartbeats, no other noise could be heard on the terrace. Castiel had not removed his hand from Aurora's neck and instead moved it up to her cheek as he came closer to her, closing the distance between them until they were so close that he could feel her heart beating against his chest. Without opening her eyes, Aurora placed her hands around his neck, she could feel his breath on her lips now. Taking this as a sign, Castiel trailed his fingers from her cheek to her chin and brought her mouth to his, carressing those delicate pink lips with his tongue, biting her lower one gently and making Aurora whimper softly as her fingers wound themselves around his hair and parting her lips just enough for him to slip his tongue inside her mouth as he kissed her again, swallowing the moan that threatened to escape from within her. They were both lost in that moment, trying to hold onto it forever... one kiss turned to ten and soon with great difficulty, they both broke free from each others lips breathing heavily, taking in the air that had been lost on them.

Aurora's arms were still around Castiel's neck but this time she buried her head in his shoulder and took a deep breath, shivering slightly because of the cold but feeling her lips burning with the heat radiating from her first kiss. She suddenly feels warm all over and opens her eyes to find Castiel's strong and powerful arms holding her close to him.

"I've missed you so much Cas..." Aurora whispered softly against his neck as she felt the strain of the past few hours hitting her now, making her feel the need to rest.

"I've missed you too Aura..." Castiel's feather soft voice in her ear makes Aurora smile as she realizes that for the first time in 28 years, he called her Aura, a name he had given to her on the day they had first met.

Sighing deeply in content, Aurora snuggled closer to Castiel still wearing his trenchcoat and closing her eyes drifted off to sleep.

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**REVIEWS?**

**A/N: **There you go! The first chapter of Cas and Aurora together! Really very long, almost 4000 words... lolz! Hope it was worth the wait. The last scene with their kiss took nearly two hours to write, its my first time so maybe it didn't come out the way it was intended to... the next chapter, probably more than half will be dedicated to the two lovebirds only! ^_^


	52. Chapter 52

**valeskathesilverwolf, minaghostwolf, joyceeluna and caschick23**, Thank You for loving the first proper Cas/Aurora chapter! Here's one more! ^_^

To **joyceeluna**: your question will be answered in the next chapter! My apologies... but look forward to the ending.

**A/N:** This chapter is smaller but the ending is really amazing and has a sweet surprise for my readers!

**Disclaimer:** The story and the characters new versions are all my creations.

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The dark inky black sky was slowly turning to blue as the night wore on and morning drew closer. Up on the terrace of Sophia's mansion, two angels were laying together on the swing, one asleep and one awake. Castiel had spent the night holding Aurora in his arms as she drifted off to sleep while he stayed up, sometimes playing with the loose strands of hair that continuously fell over her face or merely taking in the sight of her looking peaceful and simply happy. Part of the night had gone by with Castiel staring at the stars above, thinking of Home and everything that had happened to him and to Aurora while they had been in Heaven; it was meant to be Paradise – a safe haven for angels and archangels alike, but there had always been the threads of civil war weaving their way amidst the angels and with so many deaths taking place in Heaven, that Castiel had begun to wonder if they were safer down on Earth.

His chain of thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he felt Aurora stirring next to him; she had fallen asleep on her side and was now awakening. He loosened his hold around her and smiled to himself as he observed her, noticing that she was refreshed now. She had taken only a few seconds to adjust to her surroundings and on sitting up from her place beside Castiel, noticed that he was watching her and immediately felt the blush rise till her cheeks were red.

"Good morning." Castiel knew that somehow Aurora wouldn't be the first one to say something; she was still getting used to having him around her.

"Morning..." Aurora mumbled softly as she sat upright and slid the sleeves of his trenchcoat inside her arms. "How long did I sleep for?" She asked, looking up at the sky as she spoke.

"Three hours approximately. The sun has not yet risen." Castiel replied, knowing that Aurora's mind had drifted off to Dean, Sam and Balthazar. He had received no word from them yet.

For a moment Aurora decided whether or not she should do something about her mind that was slowly beginning to get anxious that her brothers had not contacted anyone as of now. But it seemed as if Castiel had made the decision for her; he reached a hand out and placing it on top of her hands, he slowly ran delicate circles over them, calming Aurora down instantly. She turned around to look at him and smiled brightly.

"I honestly don't know how we've managed to stay away from each other for so long Cas..." She said to him as she took both his hands and held them tightly.

Castiel gave her a sad smile, knowing that this was something that they needed to talk about sooner or later. Only then would they both be able to leave their past life behind for good and move on to live this life – together.

"I... it was hard for me in the beginning..." He started to tell her, not meeting those gorgeous blue and purple eyes.

Aurora was shocked when she heard Castiel's words; she had not expected that they would talk about the time that had passed by after... after she was gone. But now, looking at him so vulnerable and open to her made Aurora's eyes tear up as she understood why he needed to tell her everything. And so she waited for Castiel to speak until it was the right time to say something.

"Sophia was already grieving Chamuel's death and I believe that because she knew Michael would one day find a connection to her and your death, she decided to hide from Heaven..." He remembered how Sophia slowly distanced herself from the other angels in order for it to be easier to leave Heaven. Castiel then went on, "But... Balthazar... Balthazar was not in a good position after..." He choked up suddenly, but found the strength to go on when he felt the soft hands of Aurora press his gently, "He left... one day, just disappeared from Heaven... all the other angels believed that Balthazar had died as well... but he confessed to me that he couldn't stay in Heaven without you... he was going to fake his death and come here... to Earth."

"Why didn't you leave?" Aurora finally decided to speak up. Castiel had told her that both Sophia and Balthazar had left Heaven because they couldn't bear to be there after what had happened to her. Why did Castiel stay behind?

"I tried..." Castiel replied, looking into her face at last, "I did attempt to leave many times, but I could never stay away for long. I... I would retreat to our garden for weeks at a time, forsaking my duties and handing the responsibilities to Uriel... I did not realize that weeks turned into months and eventually decades... by the time I made up my mind to leave Heaven once and for all, Michael sent orders that in a short time I was going to play a very important role... bringing Dean back to life was what stopped me." He explained.

"And until then you were waiting alone in Heaven? Waiting for that one order to come to Earth?" Aurora felt a pang of sadness; she knew that angels could not leave Heaven whenever they wished, only those few angels who had an important mission were allowed; the others would have fallen and lost their powers. But Castiel had stayed.

"Yes. I waited for more than 25 years... until Dean died and went to Hell, it took me four months to find him and use every bit of my power to pull him out of the pit with his soul intact." Castiel continued with his story, "And I was to protect him until the day came when he would fight Lucifer..."

"That makes you Dean's guardian angel doesn't it?" Aurora asked him, hoping that the hard part was over and there would be no more talk of the past.

"Not just Dean's, I am Sam's guardian as well." Castiel corrected Aurora, knowing she would smile on hearing him say that. "At first I was not very comfortable around Sam because I had realized who he was... but being with the brothers taught me a lot of things and made me feel more alive than I had been all those years since you were gone and I knew that no matter his problems, Sam was also under my protection." Every word of it was true.

At that point, Aurora didn't even know if there was anything that she could say to Castiel, to make up for those long 28 years that they had lost, to thank him for keeping Dean and Sam alive, for still loving her... the emotions inside of her were overwhelming to a point that Aurora felt that she would just break down. Castiel seemed to have realized this and before she could say or do anything, he had taken her in his arms and held onto her tightly, letting her wrap her arms around his neck as she tried not to cry.

"I'm so sorry Cas! I didn't mean for you to go through all this pain and loneliness..." It was a little late to stop the tears now, they were falling onto his shoulder, wetting the white shirt, "I never wanted you to lose me... to think that I was dead... but I... I couldn't risk telling you and lose you to Michael... they killed Cam before me and to think that if they got anywhere near you..." Aurora's voice was trembling in between her sobs but Castiel didn't let go of her.

"It was not your fault Aurora... I do not blame you for not telling me... somehow I never believed you were truly gone and that was what kept me going all these years... but this time, no matter what happens, I will never leave you." He placed a kiss on the top of her head and held her close to him.

"You... so you forgive me?" Aurora asked, head still resting under his neck.

"I do not need to forgive you for anything Aurora. I was never angry with you..." Castiel told her.

"Cas?" Aurora mumbled softly, her tears finally drying up as she slowly moved away from his shoulder to face him.

He let go of Aurora's hands and once again brushed away a lock of long golden hair away from her face before bending close to her ears.

"I love you Aurora." Castiel whispered softly, speaking her mind before she did.

"I love you Cas..." Aurora smiled as she buried herself in his neck again, blushing like a love struck teenage girl.

Castiel laughed as he hugged Aurora, knowing that they would never let go anymore. The two of them sat on the swing for a few minutes, listening to the morning sounds of nature. Aurora suddenly felt the swing slide away from her as she found herself being carried in Castiel's arms, he had picked her up as if she was a feather and was walking across the terrace now.

"Castiel!" Aurora shrieked when she had processed what was happening. "What... what are you doing?" She exclaimed, trying not to deafen the angel.

"Close your eyes, Aura..." Castiel ordered her quietly as they reached near the other end of Sophia's vast terrace.

"But..." Aurora started to protest, her arms were around his neck but she didn't remember when she had done that.

"Just close your eyes and you will find out in a few seconds." There was no way Castiel was about to reveal his secret to her.

"Fine." Aurora huffed as she closed her eyes and interlaced her fingers together around Castiel's neck.

A few short seconds later, Aurora felt herself being lowered onto the floor once again as her toes touched the cold marble. She didn't dare open her eyes but Castiel had sensed that she might and surely enough, Aurora noticed that he was now standing behind her with his hands covering her eyes.

"Cas..." She started to say, stretching his name along as she hoped to get out of this sudden weird change in him.

"Ssshh... only a minute more left." He replied, his voice soft and husky against her cheek.

"A minute left for what?" Aurora wasn't understanding why he had carried her from one end of the terrace to the other and was making her stand in one place now with her eyes closed.

"Patience, love." Castiel removed one hand from over her eyes and slid it down to Aurora's waist.

"Can I open them now?" Aurora groaned impatiently, hoping that a minute had passed by already.

"Not yet. Wait. 5... 4... 3... 2...1, open your eyes now." Castiel told her as he let go of his hand that still covered her eyes.

She immediately did as she was told and opened her eyes to a beautiful breathtaking sight; the sun was rising now, forming a picturesque myriad of colors as a wave of blue ripples blanketed the sky, turning night into morning. The white cotton pillow-like clouds were seen resting in the bright blue sky with a flock of birds beginning their flight for the day, black swooping forms weaving their way in and out of the clouds. And then, she could see the magnificent sun, casting brilliant golden rays of light against the tall trees that were clustered together in a manner which made it seem as if the sun was rising up from behind creating a scene that rendered Aurora speechless.

"Do you like it?" Castiel's whisper in her ear suddenly tickled Aurora back to reality as she snapped out of her trance.

"Like it... no... I love it. This is beautiful Cas... it... I... it reminded me of the day when we first met." Aurora finally managed to speak coherently as she tore her gaze away from the morning scene and stared into his eyes.

"I remember as if it was only yesterday that we realized that our place in Heaven was together." Castiel smiled as he held her hands in his. "Our garden is our home, Aura... that is where we belonged. But not anymore... because as long as we are together, then no matter Heaven or Earth, that is our home."

Hearing his words, Aurora couldn't help but get a little emotional again, but she didn't cry this time; instead found herself melting into his arms, wishing that they could stay in the same place forever.

"Do you think I was right in giving away the rings?" The question had been lingering in the back of her mind ever since she had made the decision.

"I believe that you did the right thing by assuring Dean and Sam's safety was not going to be affected in anyway. They are your brothers Aura... and your promise to Mary made sure that you would protect them, which you have guaranteed for a little longer... it may have made things difficult since we need to find another way to fight." Castiel answered Aurora truthfully but wasn't going to spoil their morning with mentioning Lucifer.

"I'm scared Cas... I don't... I want to fight... that's not going to change... but I don't want to lose you again." Aurora looked up at him, not letting go just yet.

"I promise you that I will not let that happen... we are not going to lose each other again. You trust me do you not?" Castiel knew there was no reason to ask Aurora that, but he liked to hear her answer.

"You know that I trust you with my life and soul Cas..." Aurora replied, smiling into his chest as she buried herself in him again.

"For an angel as powerful as Michael, you are very shy Aurora." Castiel stated, laughing as he hugged her.

"Yes well its all your fault..." She mumbled, pulling back from his arms but not meeting his eyes.

"Then I am proud to take all the credit." Castiel smiled as he lifted her chin and looked at her affectionately before giving her a kiss. "And I have found a way to make you feel better." He added as the idea suddenly came to him.

"Are you going to help me do something about Balthazar and Sophia?" Aurora beamed at the thought of that, she knew that all those two needed was a little push and then they both would finally get their happy love story together.

"Not exactly." Castiel knew that he was going to be helping Aurora, but his idea was a little more personal. "I was... well... I thought of something... that will strengthen us... being together..."

Aurora raised an eyebrow on hearing Castiel speak, she was getting a feeling that she knew where he was headed but didn't completely make sense of his words.

"What are you talking about Cas?" Aurora genuinely was confused now.

"I... I'm talking about our bond Aurora... we were never bonded together in Heaven, but that does not mean we cannot follow the rules down here... and... we could also be bonded in the traditional human sense." Castiel sounded slightly nervous but his voice never faltered.

"Traditional human sense?" It took her a moment to realize what Castiel was hinting towards, "Oh my!" Aurora's eyes widened as it hit her. "Cas... are you... do you mean...?"

"Marriage."

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**Surprise! Hahaha, like it? Love it? Review? **


	53. Chapter 53

I'd like to thank my readers, **Caschick23, valeskathesilverwolf and joyceeluna **for loving the surprise! Here's the next chapter with the answer to **joyceeluna's **question! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I own all the explanations of the Angels' powers and abilites. The whole soul-mate and being bonded together is my idea with a little inspiration from the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz.

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For a whole minute Aurora was dumbstruck; her heart was rapidly beating against her chest and her mind was in a flurry of emotions as she tried to calm herself down and stay normal. Castiel was waiting patiently, wondering what was going on in Aurora's mind just then, hoping that he hadn't spoken about this too soon. They had only just got back together, even if it was after 28 years.

"Marriage." Aurora's first words were a repeat of Castiel's. "As in... us getting... married? A wedding? Our wedding?" She seemed as if she were still trying to wrap her head around what she had heard.

"Yes. It is the same as getting bonded... are you... do you not want to get married?" He knew that their bonding was inevitable, part of being an angel. But marriage was optional.

"No!" Aurora said a little too quickly and then caught herself, "I mean... I... well... you need to propose properly before getting a proper answer out of me!" She grinned, her answer was obvious but she wasn't about to let him know that.

"A proper proposal?" Castiel looked a little confused now, "Why?" They were already talking about getting married, so he didn't see why there was a need for it to be proper.

"Because if we're going to get married like the humans do, it has to be done their way. Ring, proposal, wedding planning, honeymoon?" Aurora looked up hopefully at Castiel, wondering how exactly they were going to work this out.

They were angels, and once they were bonded, that was that. But if they got married in a church with the entire package, would they even have time? In their world, there was no rest until everything evil was destroyed and if they did get rid of Lucifer, other evils would still prevail. But Aurora and Castiel knew that their love would also prevail, just like it had in these 28 years.

"I..." Castiel was a little nervous now, he knew that he wasn't very knowledgable about human cultures but for Aurora he would do anything.

Before he could say anything else, Aurora had covered Castiel's mouth with her hand. She sort of knew what he was going to say.

"There's no rush Cas..." Aurora told him softly, "We'll have time to plan a wedding after winning the war." She interlaced her fingers through his and smiled.

Instead of saying anything, Castiel pulled Aurora close to her and kissed her gently on her forehead.

"Shall we go downstairs?" He asked her, thinking that maybe Sophia was awake by now and perhaps she had received word from Balthazar.

"Yes alright. But tell me Cas, how exactly do we go about our plan for Balthazar and Sophia?" Aurora wanted them to at least talk things through, but even for that, Sophia needed to be shown what the future could hold for her.

"I do not really know how we can help them out..." Castiel said to her honestly, "But I think that if Sophia and Balthazar get..." He paused for a moment, remembering something that Dean had told him once, "A push in the right direction from us... we could talk to them separately and then perhaps things will work out on their own."

Aurora stopped just then and stared at Castiel in wonder. "Wow..." She breathed in amazement.

"What is it Aura?" Castiel didn't understand what had happened. He had merely put forth his suggestion.

"Since when have you become an expert at matchmaking Cas?" Aurora asked him, "A simple solution without all the scheming and planning? Its a perfect idea!" She exclaimed.

"Matchmaking?" It took him a moment to realize what Aurora was talking about and then it dawned on him, "Oh... yes well... uhh... I believe Dean has been... helping me to understand some of the human ways since this is all very new to me." He suddenly found himself interested in gazing at the marble floor.

Aurora giggled on seeing that she had made Castiel a little conscious now; at least he knew how she felt whenever he was going all romantic on her.

"Well then, I guess my brother's a good influence." She told him as she wrapped her arms in his and they headed back inside the house.

Once out of the terrace, Aurora realized that she still was wearing Castiel's trenchcoat. The house was not very cold anymore and she did not want to lose the warm fuzzy feeling his jacket gave her, but she started to slip out of it until Castiel stopped her.

"I do not need it just yet..." He whispered as he slid the trenchcoat back up her shoulders, his fingers lightly grazing her exposed arms causing Aurora to shiver. "And I think it looks better on you." His breath was cold and tickled her ears.

Aurora sighed deeply and smiled brightly as she rested her head on his shoulder trying to hide her blush. She let Castiel wrap his arm around her waist and lead her downstairs where they found Sophia and Ellen wide awake in the hall; Sophia was pacing up and down, glancing at the phone waiting for it to ring while Ellen was trying to calm her.

"I know Dean very well Sophia, if there was any trouble he would have called. I think we need to wait a little longer, the boys will call when they're heading back." It was a little odd for Ellen to be in her mother-role around Sophia, who was much more older than she was. But for now, Ellen knew that the archangel was just like any one of them, worried and impatient.

"Yes, I do believe you're right. I... I just think that if Balthazar had some brains he would contact us as soon as possible." Sophia finally gave up her constant pacing and sat down next to Ellen on the sofa.

"That does sound like my brother doesn't it?" Aurora's voice suddenly rang out, as Ellen and Sophia turned around with a start; neither woman had noticed Castiel and Aurora standing behind them.

"Oh, Aurora! You startled me." Sophia exclaimed as she jumped up, noticing Castiel with her.

"Sorry. I didn't realize you were so worried." Aurora smiled inwardly as she tried not to let her happiness burst through; Sophia was anxiously waiting for Balthazar, which was a good sign.

"No, not worried..." Sophia tried to brush her anxiety off, "Just wondering why Dean and Sam haven't called yet." She couldn't hide it very well though.

"Ah... I see..." Aurora didn't say anything else.

"Where have you two been?" Ellen suddenly asked, noticing that Castiel was holding Aurora's hand in his. "Were you two awake all night...?" She trailed off, knowing that her point was made.

"We were on the terrace, talking about... stuff." Aurora winced as she realized that didn't come out right.

Ellen raised an eyebrow at the couple, looking as if she would say something else, but all she did was smile which caught Aurora and Castiel by surprise.

"I'm glad you two finally worked things out... now if only that boy was clever enough to do the same then maybe he'd finally have the guts to talk to my daughter properly." Ellen was of course, referring to Dean and his lack of getting together with Jo.

"Would you like me to talk to Dean for you?" Aurora asked Ellen, trying not to laugh. Dean should have already made his move, but seemingly had forgotten to do so.

"If it does any good..." Ellen replied, "We could all use some happiness around here, and with everything that they've gone through, I'm surprised Dean hasn't..."

"I think it is because he is afraid of you." Castiel suddenly blurted out.

"Afraid of me?" Ellen was shocked to hear Castiel say that. It was bordering on unimaginable. She let out a laugh, "Dean Winchester can handle demons and archangels but he's scared of me? What does he think I'll do to him? I've made it clear that if he doesn't take Jo for himself then he needs to worry..."

At this, the three angels couldn't help laughing either. And as soon as they did, the phone began to ring. Ellen went to answer it and spoke to the person on the other line for only a second before handing it over to Castiel.

"It's Sammy... he wants to talk to you Cas." She was serious again. Something must have happened.

Castiel nodded and taking the phone, went towards the den leaving Aurora and Sophia to wait. Ellen was about to say something when she noticed Jo was heading down, the young hunter having woken up with the noise of laughter.

"What was that noise?" She grumbled as she reached the hall, "Why is everyone awake so early? We've slept for maybe 5 hours..." Jo was definitely not a morning person today.

"That was us..." Aurora replied, looking sad that she and Sophia had woken Jo up so early in the morning. After all, the young hunter had come with her to Detroit to rescue Hannah and deserved a longer sleep. "Sorry, we didn't realize..." Aurora started to say.

"Nah, its alright... being a hunter means that we can survive on 5-6 hours of sleep everyday. Dean and Sam can do with 3-4 hours only." Jo smiled as she decided it was time for breakfast.

But Ellen insisted that her daughter rest a little longer, and ultimately Jo ended up lying down on the sofa with Aurora and Sophia giving her company. The three of them didn't speak much, each of them caught up in their own thoughts until Jo was struck by a sudden realization.

"Hey..." She exclaimed as she sat upright, "Are you two... fallen angels?" It was a little random and direct but Jo couldn't help blurting it out.

"No. Not exactly..." Sophia replied, "We left Heaven on our own will but now that Michael has blocked us from getting back, it seems as if we've been cut from all contact." She explained.

"But what about you, Aurora? Didn't you... I mean you were born on Earth after..." Jo didn't feel comfortable mentioning Aurora's death, but the angel understood what she meant.

"I think I might be a fallen angel... in a certain way... but why do you ask all of a sudden?" Aurora was merely curious.

"Its not really all of a sudden, I had meant to ask one of you earlier but never got a chance and I guess I forgot about it until now." Jo answered before continuing, "I'm a little confused about one thing."

"What is it?" Sophia asked, thinking that she had an idea about what Jo wanted to know.

"I thought that angels aren't able to sleep. I mean, I've been around Cas for almost two years now and he doesn't sleep... but you and Aurora..." Jo wondered why that was so.

"Ah... yes, I was hoping that someone had noticed this unusual pattern in the two of us." Sophia said.

"The two of you?" Jo was a little confused, "That means that Balthazar doesn't sleep as well?"

"No he doesn't. It's only Sophia and I who require sleep. We are angels and can stay awake for days on end without any sleep," Aurora started to explain, "An angel normally needs only 5 hours of rest to survive a week and resting doesn't mean sleep; meditation also works just fine."

"Okay... it makes sense but you and Sophia have been sleeping a lot in these past few days, why is that?" Jo's question was still unanswered.

"Its because we both aren't bonded to our soulmates." Aurora answered, "Once two angels are bonded, our power increases to double and we're stronger than before... there is some unknown gift that God had given us which activates once the bonding is complete; you could say that it is another source of our abilities... without being bonded, we are weaker than usual... and since I am to face Lucifer in battle soon I need as much strength as I can gather..." She finished.

"Oh... hmm... but Balthazar and Castiel? They aren't bonded either... I mean Cas is your soul-mate, isn't he? Then why doesn't he need sleep?" Jo was finally beginning to understand this new reasoning a little.

"They don't sleep because both Castiel and Balthazar are a bit stronger than us... yes, even though I am an archangel, my powers have decreased since a while... so they just need a little rest." This time it was Sophia who replied.

"Wow... okay, I get it now. Thanks for the explanation." Jo beamed, it felt nice to have two women with her, even though they were angels, any girl company apart from her mom was a good thing.

"Anytime." Aurora smiled at Jo as she told her to get some more sleep.

As soon as Jo drifted off to a light nap, Sophia went to the kitchen to check on Ellen while Aurora decided to go and see where Castiel had disappeared to; but the moment she stood up, she saw the door to the den swing open and Castiel rushed outside.

"Cas!" Aurora called out to him as she made her way to where he stood. "Is everything alright?" She asked, looking concerned.

"Yes. Yes, everything is fine. Sam just called to say that he was arriving back in a few minutes. They all are unharmed." Castiel added, knowing that Aurora was worried about their safety.

"That's good." Aurora let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and then met Castiel's gaze which showed her that there was something he had left unsaid. "What is it Cas?" She asked him, "You seem a little distracted..." She hoped that there was nothing wrong.

Castiel didn't get a chance to reply to Aurora's question for as soon as the words left her mouth, the doorbell rang waking Jo up from her nap and bringing Ellen and Sophia out of the kitchen. Ellen went to answer the door, knowing who it was. As the main doors opened, everyone in the hall was relieved to see that Dean, Sam and Balthazar were standing there, but they weren't alone.

"They have brought the Prophet back with them." Castiel finally answered Aurora, "Chuck Shurley."

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**Cliffy! Not a cliffhanger really, but hey, Chuck's here! ^_^ reviews?**


	54. Chapter 54

I'm finally back! Terribly sorry for the delay, exams were a long 6 days last week with me getting around 36 hours of sleep in total, following which I was a little unwell again. But the chapter is big, so hopefully I've made up for the long long wait!

Thank you **valeskathesilverwolf, joyceeluna and minaghostwolf** for your reviews! Here is your latest update! ^_^

**Disclaimer: **More like an A/N actually, just wanted to mention that Bobby is not in his wheelchair anymore, Castiel was able to heal him before the attack at Carthage which is why he's been walking about these past 50+ chapters... hehehe!

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"_They have brought the Prophet back with them." Castiel finally answered Aurora, "That is Chuck Shurley."_

Aurora turned around just then, a moment's hesitation flickering through her mind; she remembered Jo mentioning that Chuck was a bit of an... eccentric person who drank a lot because of the severe headaches from his visions. A description of him from the young hunter had told Aurora that she should be expecting to see a short guy with a scruffy beard dressed in a bathrobe and boxers looking permanently drunk. But instead, the second Aurora faced Dean, Sam and Balthazar, she saw that the Prophet looked the complete opposite – He was dressed neatly in a light blue shirt and jeans with normal sized glasses and looked fresh, inspite of having arrived after a long road trip. She could also sense a feeling of nervousness from Chuck and wondered why that was so.

"Even the prophet cleans up well..." Bobby grumbled under his breath, looking surprised at Chuck's new appearance.

"Hey Chuck!" Jo suddenly sprang up from the sofa, beaming happily as she went to greet him.

The prophet, who had been standing quietly and in the same place was broken out of his trance when he heard Jo's voice. Snapping out of his reverie, Chuck calmly shook hands with the young hunter, but his mind was still on the entire scene in front of him.

"Chuck? My god, it is so nice to see you again..." Ellen exclaimed, not recognising him at first.

"Yes, uhh... nice to... nice to see you too Ellen." Chuck replied, his voice stuttering slightly. He was always nervous around women but since the only women he knew properly, in the strictest formal sense, were Jo and Ellen, Chuck had learned to relax slightly around them.

"Is everything alright?" Ellen asked him, noticing his nervousness as well. "Was the ride too long?" But even as she spoke those words, she realized that the boys had returned earlier than expected.

Considering that they had driven all the way, the time that had passed was only enough for a one way trip. As soon as that thought crossed Ellen's mind, Dean had also guessed where her thoughts had reached.

"We drove only one way... Balthazar thought he could be of more use rather than just baby-sitting me and Sammy... so he zapped us back here." Dean answered before Ellen had said anything.

"I... I haven't... travelled..." Chuck shook his head trying to get the words right, "Never experienced angel teleportation before." He managed to finally say.

"Well now you have, so it makes you part of the club." Bobby said sarcastically as he nodded in greeting to Chuck.

"Ah yes... well... umm..." Chuck wasn't paying attention, his eyes had finally stopped gazing over the house and reached what he was looking for.

"Oh!" Jo exclaimed as it hit her; she understood Chuck's nervousness. "You haven't met any other angel before Cas have you Chuck?" She asked him.

"What? No! No... no I have not... until today... I was a little surprised to see... Balthazar with Dean and Sam... its a rare thing for a prophet to come face to face with an angel let alone two, but then I find out that there is another angel and an archangel here in Illinois... this is a great honor." Chuck directed his last words to Sophia and Aurora who were standing together.

"The honor is ours, I assure you." Aurora smiled as she came forward to meet Chuck officially. It was rare to see someone like Chuck who didn't freak out around so many angels.

"Umm... yes... I..." But Chuck was too nervous to say anything and gently shook Aurora's outstretched hand.

"Aurora." She said to him, making the first move to introduce herself.

Hearing her name, something seemed to change in the prophet; Chuck was still in awe of being surrounded by angels, but he was getting used to the fact that Castiel was not the only angel on Earth.

"Aurora? Isn't that the name of the Goddess of Dawn? I mean..." Chuck was too flustered to finish his sentence.

"Yes it is." Aurora was pleased, not many people recognized her namesake so easily. "I do have the power over light... and not just the rising and setting of the sun like the stories say..." She held out her palm and closed her eyes for a second, a tiny orb of glowing light suddenly arose from the center, floating in midair. "I can also create light... even in the darkest of places..."

"There will be light at the end of every dark tunnel." Sophia finished Aurora's sentence as she too approached Chuck.

"Oh!" Chuck was astonished to see Sophia standing there, he had momentarily forgotten that she was the Archangel.

"Sophia, Archangel of Love and of Wisdom." Sophia said, introducing herself as well.

Chuck's eyes grew wide for a second and his initial nervousness returned. He didn't feel that shaking hands with an archangel was the best thing to do; instead he bowed his head down.

"It truly is a great honor to meet an Archangel." Chuck somehow had not let his voice quaver as he spoke.

"Likewise, I have not had the good fortune of meeting a prophet until today. Though I have been on Earth these past 28 years, you are the first... I was never around when Luke was in charge." Sophia seemed to struggle with finding a polite way of mentioning the previous Prophet.

"Trust me, you did not want to meet him!" Balthazar chimed in all of a sudden, "You should have seen Luke!"

"I think it is Sophia's good fortune that she did _not_ see Luke." Castiel spoke up, sounding very grave.

At this, everyone in the hall began to laugh. It was easy for them to adjust to any new situation with very little difficulty and now that Chuck was here as well, things were looking up for their side. After a few miniutes, they all had settled down, except Dean and Sam who went upstairs to get some sleep.

"They can rest all they want to." Chuck started to say when he saw Bobby about to say something, "We have until late afternoon. The Croatoan virus will not be unleashed until midnight tonight, but they will be moving it into place and we have to stop it before that happens." He had shifted into a somber mood quickly.

"They?" Ellen suddenly spoke up, voicing the one question that the others also had on their minds. "You mean Pestilence?" She asked Chuck.

"Yes. Pestilence and his demons... he is still in the form of that doctor, which is how he was able to cover up the virus as a cure for the swine flu." Chuck confirmed Ellen's suspicions, "I was surprised to learn from Sam and Dean that they had managed to retrieve his ring earlier without much difficulty. I suspected he would have attacked then."

"So did we. But he gave up without a fight." Castiel told Chuck, "I was the one to cut the ring off him. The casualties were much less than they had been with War and Famine."

"Yes I remember that." Chuck nodded in agreement, not elaborating, but referring to one of his visions of Sam and Dean.

"So what are we going to do until then?" Jo asked Chuck, "Just wait around?"

"There's no need for all of us to go deal with this," Balthazar replied to Jo, "Chuck told us that he needs only Sam, Dean, Bobby, Ellen and Cas for the mission. We have to stay back." By 'we', Balthazar was referring to himself, Jo, Aurora, Sophia and Hannah.

"You're gonna be our bodyguard this time?" Jo tried not to giggle when she realized Balthazar was being left to protect the four women.

"Hey. Trust me, I'd rather protect the lovely ladies everyday if I had to... handling those..." Glancing over at Aurora, Balthazar fell silent, knowing it was best he didn't say anything further.

"Its a good thing Sam and Dean aren't here Balthazar, and the fact that you're my brother too..." Aurora started to warn him.

"Oh c'mon _mei-mei,_ I was just joking! You know I'll protect the Winchester's if I had to, but that's why Cassy boy is there!" Balthazar tried to lighten his sister's mood, she was always like this when things were tense.

"Excuse me, did you just... are you... is Balthazar your brother, Aurora?" Chuck looked perplexed.

"Yes. Balthazar is my brother and Sophia is my sister... I am bonded to both of them." Aurora explained to Chuck.

"But... I thought only the angels bonded with their soulmates... at least that is what I heard. This is something that I never really knew about until recently... we are never in control over the lives of the angels... I mean, the visions... they focus on humans and for me its just Sam and Dean." Chuck elaborated, trying to figure things out.

"Angels normally don't need to be bonded with any other angel save for their soulmates, but in my case... Michael felt it would be better if I had the extra power..." Aurora felt no remorse over the Archangel being responsible for her death, all she wanted was justice now. "The bond between two soulmates enhances their abilities and I believe that Michael felt if I had enough power from Balthazar and Sophia as well then I would be able to become an Archangel." This was something that Aurora had only spoken of to Castiel properly, no one else. Until now.

"Wow... okay... so Michael's the big bad here?" Chuck exclaimed, sounding a little surprised. "And Raphael is helping him?" The details Dean and Sam had given him were enough to help Chuck understand his visions of the past week slightly better now.

"Yes," This time it was Sophia who replied, "And I believe that _you_ are supposed to be protected by Raphael is it not?" She was being cautious. Things could get out of hand.

Had the Archangel still be inside his vessel on Earth, the situation would have been bad for everyone, but even now, Raphael was in Heaven and there was the possibility of imminent danger with Chuck inside the 'enemy' camp.

"I am... well at least the last time I checked I was..." Chuck sounded unsure about something. "It's just that... if Raphael is really protecting me then why didn't he stop Dean and Sam? He could... I don't know... he could have even smited them if he wanted to."

"Raphael is not a coward." Castiel suddenly spoke up, "He will never fight an angel or a human without any confrontation. A zap of lightning from Heaven is not the way Raphael kills, he believes in facing his enemies and defeating them in combat."

"Alright, I think that's enough for now." Ellen said, interrupting the conversation just then, "Chuck, you've had a long trip and the day is still going to be longer... if you would like to rest then I'm sure Sophia will let Bobby show you to the guest room." The older hunter knew that Chuck and the angels could spend all day and all night discussing everything, but there wasn't enough time.

"Oh. Yes... umm... I am a little tired... traveling via angel teleportation isn't my idea of a quick way to reach home." Chuck murmurred. "If you will excuse me, I shall take your leave." In his politest of manners, Chuck bowed respectfully once more to the four angels.

With that, Chuck and Bobby left the hall and headed towards the guest rooms that were on the ground floor. After they had left, Ellen and Jo told the angels that they would be taking care of the house, leaving Aurora, Sophia, Castiel and Balthazar to themselves. For the next 2-3 hours, the four angels decided to go over the details of that evening's mission since Balthazar had been with Sam and Dean when the initial plans were made, he was able to help Castiel out and they all retreated into the library. It was just before lunch time did everyone else return downstairs, including the brothers who were well rested now.

"Hey, good morning." Sam said to Aurora as she came over to give him a hug when she saw that he was awake.

"You mean good afternoon, its almost 1 pm already!" Aurora tried not to smile brightly though, seeing Dean and Sam at anytime made her feel truly happy.

"We still have plenty of time Aurora." Dean reassured his sister as he kissed the top of her head. "I take it that your 'talk' with Cas went well last night then?" He suddenly commented.

For a second Aurora didn't realize what Dean was hinting at, until his pointedly staring at her made Aurora glance at herself and it hit her – she was still wearing Castiel's trenchcoat.

"Oh you mean this?" She had forgotten to return the trenchcoat, "It was cold on the terrace last night so Cas gave it to me, I just haven't remembered to give it back to him." Aurora blushed slightly.

Dean gave Aurora a look that clearly said he didn't believe that was all of everything that had happened when he was gone last night but he let it go; Aurora and Castiel were finally together now and that was the only important thing. He and Sam were heading towards the dining room for lunch and Aurora was about to follow them when she realized that Hannah wasn't there.

"Jo? Is Hannah still asleep?" She asked the young hunter, hoping that her friend wouldn't stay confined in her room all day.

"No, I went upstairs a few minutes ago and I saw that Hannah was already awake, she must have gone for a shower." Jo had spoken to Hannah and she seemed calmer about the situation.

"Did she say if she would be coming down?" Aurora was trying to stay as positive as she could be, and knowing Hannah, there was a chance that her friend would find a way to get through this.

"Umm... I don't know about that... I could go and ask her if you'd like?" Jo offered; she knew that Aurora was worried about Hannah and wanted to help.

"No its alright, I think its time I went to talk to her." Aurora gave Jo a smile, "Why don't you go ahead for lunch, I'll meet you all in a few minutes."

As soon as Jo and Dean made their way inside, Aurora turned to go and finally meet Hannah properly, hoping that she would get a chance to explain everything to her friend. But just as she had reached the stairs, a voice called out to her.

"Aurora?" It was Chuck. "Do you have a minute to talk?" He asked her, something in his voice alerted the angel that whatever Chuck needed to tell her was very important.

"Of course, is everything alright?" She let go of the banister and faced Chuck, studying him to see if she could discern anything, but Chuck appeared the same only a little more nervous than usual.

"Hmm? Oh yes... yes, everything's fine." He was distracted momentarily when he saw Sam coming towards them, "I just wanted to discuss something with you, in the library."

"Alright. Just give me a second." Aurora figured that if Sam was free then he could help her out.

Chuck nodded and left Aurora to speak with Sam, who had sensed that there was something going on as well.

"What did Chuck want?" Sam absentmindedly took Aurora's hand in his and tried to calm her down a little.

"I'm not sure... he said that he wanted to talk to me about something in the library. Its probably nothing though." At least Aurora wanted to think that it was nothing, but Chuck was the prophet and whatever he had to tell her may be about his visions.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He knew that Aurora was nervous about finding out if Chuck's new vision had something to do with the mission, something that could be dangerous to him and Dean.

"No, I'll be fine. I was actually going to ask you for a favor." Aurora knew that Hannah had already met Dean before, but since he wasn't around she figured that Sam could help her out.

"Anything, happy to help you big sis." Sam said as he gave her a big smile.

"I need you to talk to Hannah for me... just for now... I wanted her to come downstairs and meet everyone properly and maybe find some sense in all this mess that I've gotten her into." Aurora tried not to sound upset as she spoke the last few words but Sam caught onto her.

"Its not your fault Aurora, you had to know that Hannah couldn't be protected at all times and sooner or later, they would have got to her. And don't worry, I'll go and speak to her right away." Sam gave her a quick hug and a reassuring smile before heading upstairs to Jo's room.

Aurora then made her way towards the library to speak with Chuck. When she entered, she found him drinking a glass of whisky which he immediately put aside on seeing her.

"Sorry... I just... the last vision was quite intense... it took a toll... not used to such big ones anymore." Chuck tried to hide the glass behind his back, he was supposed to be sober now.

"It must be hard for you... having to deal with this all the time... is drinking the only way?" Aurora sounded concerned.

"I usually take some aspirin and have a few drinks when the headaches begin... its easier to understand the visions when I'm more or less unconscious... and after, not so much... but like I said, this was different." He felt that talking about it could help him, his head was still throbbing.

"Did you see something happening today? When the others go to stop the Croaton virus?" It was straight to the point. Aurora knew if something was to go wrong then Chuck wouldn't tell Sam and Dean in case it wasn't supposed to happen that way.

Chuck hesitated for a moment, but knew he couldn't delay. He owed Aurora the truth, she was the only one he could talk to right now.

"No... I had a vision of the near future... I'm not sure how far away it is... might be a week from now... its about Lucifer... the final face-off with him." Chuck replied honestly.

"What about it?" Aurora was more confused than shocked on hearing that, but still it was unexpected.

"It wasn't too clear and definitely was incomplete... which means there are going to be more visions like this as the day nears... I saw you... through Dean of course, I can never hone in on only angels, but because Dean and Sam were there..." Chuck started to tell her, but Aurora interrupted him.

"Wait... did you just say you saw Dean and _Sam_? I am not taking Sammy with me. Its going to be only Dean, Cas and Balthazar. I'm keeping Sam safe and that means not letting him anywhere near Lucifer. He can't be there!" Now Aurora was beginning to worry a little. Sam needed to be protected at all times.

"Well he is... according to my vision you will have four people with you, not three... the fourth person that I saw was Sam..." Chuck trailed off for a second.

"And?" She prodded.

"And... I saw something... happening... it never reached the end so I don't know if it will come to pass or if there's going to be a change..." He was fidgeting slightly now, nervous and trying to stop his head from pounding like a hammer was beating against it.

"Chuck, please... tell me what it was that you saw." Aurora needed to hear him say it, she had to know what he had seen.

Chuck took a deep breath and lifted his glass to take a gulp of the remainder of his drink before speaking, "One of you will sacrifice your life for the other... either Sam will do it to save you or you will, to save him."

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**Uh-oh a sacrifice! Am I back with a bang or what? Reviews?**


	55. Chapter 55

To: **valeskathesilverwolf, joyceeluna and minaghostwolf, **Thank You for your lovely reviews! Here is the new chapter! ^_^

**A/N: **There's a surprise appearance in this chapter! Hope you all like it!

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The silence that followed Chuck's last words were a deep and prolonged silence. He knew that Aurora could still feel the words hanging in the air around them as she tried to compose herself. The shock of hearing Chuck's declaration had made Aurora falter slightly, but she was an angel and knew that the best thing to do was to keep a straight mind, focused and not let any emotions throw her off.

"I see." She decided to break the silence that had fallen across the library. "And you're saying its either me or Sam right?"

Chuck was a little surprised to see Aurora regain her calmness and poise so quickly; he knew that she was an angel, but also knew that Dean and Sam were her brothers for all intents and purposes since she possessed Ashley Winchester as her vessel and cared a lot about them.

"Umm... yes, I didn't really see the whole thing... my visions are always in black and white; from what I could discern... Sam tries to give himself for Lucifer to save your life... or you agree... to Lucifer's condition... to save Sam from being possessed." Chuck spoke a little reluctantly.

"Condition?" Aurora was quiet for a second until she remembered, "To become Lucifer's personal slave..." She whispered softly, "His angel of darkness." Looking up, Aurora met Chuck's eyes and saw the truth in them.

The prophet didn't say anything after that, he didn't know what he could say. Instead, he walked over to one of the plush sofa's and sank down, holding his head in his hands, trying to get rid of the headache along with the horrible feeling that he was getting about this latest vision.

"What are you going to do Aurora?" Chuck asked her, wondering if the angel had a plan.

Aurora didn't answer him, her mind had already begun to wander as she started to remember an incident that took place a very, very, long time ago. It had taken place 30 years preivously, when Dean was born and Aurora, who was possessing Amy Collins then had been staying with Mary and John for the first few weeks. It was during that time when she had finally revealed herself to them. Shown them who she really was. Even now, Aurora could remember both John and Mary's reactions when she confessed the truth, about being sent to protect Mary, to make sure Sam was also born, and what little she knew about Michael's plans for both the brothers. But that was not where Aurora's mind strayed to, rather it was another memory of that time. A memory in which Mary had asked her angel guardian for only one request, and the words of that wish were now coming back to Aurora, the words of Mary Winchester.

"_Aurora, you have done so much for my family already that I don't know if I can ask you for something else. But knowing you, and how stubborn you can be even for an angel, I know you will have me say what it is that I want." _She remembered Mary talking to her when they were alone in the house one day.

Her voice was just the way Aurora remembered it, the memory was bringing tears to her eyes and Chuck noticed it, but he didn't move or say anything. He waited for Aurora to come back to the present, realizing that mentally, she wasn't here anymore.

"_Of course you have to tell me what it is Mary!" _Aurora recalled how adamant she had been to get Mary to ask for one wish.

"_Alright, alright. It is nothing really big, but it is important to me. And John. We... actually, I had one request, I want you to promise me something, Aurora." _

"_Anything, Mary. Name it and I promise you that I will fufill this one desire of yours until the very end along with everything else."_

At this point, Aurora was so lost in the memory that she could even remember the moment when Mary had caught hold of her hands after she had spoken, and those soft hands of her friend, her mother... were still imprinted on her own.

"_No! Aurora, no matter what happens to us, whether John and I survive long enough to see our sons grown up or we don't make it... even if you aren't on Earth at that time, I want your word that you will fulfill this _one_ request. Please."_

"_Mary, I swear to everything that I stand for as an angel of God, whatever it is you ask for, I will move the Heavens to make sure I keep the promise. But please, tell me what it is that you're asking for."_

"_I want my sons to be safe. Dean is already here, and I know I'm supposed to give birth to one more son, but I want you to keep them alive, make sure they are safe from the destiny that threatens to kill them. If there is any way, one chance at giving them an escape... please, give it to both my sons. If you find a way out... to stop them from killing each other... I want... I only want the two of them to never have to do such a cruel thing. Promise me Aurora, promise me you'll do whatever it takes... keep Dean and his brother alive. Don't let them become a pawn for the Devil! Don't let them sacrifice themselves for no reason, I know they will want to save the world even if it means them dying... but not without reason... don't let my sons die in vain."_

"_I promise, Mary. I will do everything in my power to save them. You have my word."_

The memory ended then and Aurora found herself back in the present, it felt as if she had teleported herself back to the past, to that scene; in reality it was only her mind, physically she was still standing in the library in Sophia's mansion with Chuck sitting down next to her, watching her every move.

"I'm sorry about that." Aurora said softly, as she too sat down, across from the prophet.

"Hey, don't worry about it. What happened?" Chuck asked, he didn't know that Aurora had literally found herself reliving one of her memories, but had seen the sudden change that came across her features.

"Its nothing... really... I was merely recalling an old memory of mine. That is all." Aurora knew she could talk to anyone about it, but in her heart, it felt right to only confide in Castiel.

"Are you okay?" He wasn't going to press her for details, the two of them barely knew each other, but Chuck knew that wasn't the reason why Aurora was staying silent.

"Yes. I am now. And don't worry about your vision, I'll see to it that nothing of the sort happens with Sammy... he won't be doing anything foolish." Aurora allowed herself a little smile.

"I'll have to take your word on that." Chuck replied unable to stop smiling himself, he could notice the Winchester streak in Aurora coming to light; she was more adamant rather than stubborn unlike her brothers.

He was about to say something else when there was a knock on the door of the library and Sophia entered.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything." She said as she came over to Aurora and Chuck.

"No... we were just talking... about fighting strategies..." Chuck quickly answered. He didn't want anyone to know about his vision and was sure Aurora would only talk to Castiel.

"Yes, Chuck was telling me that it is a good idea to let Balthazar take your place for the final fight... I was a little hesitant at first, but I think I agree with him." Aurora quickly covered up, adding to Chuck's story.

"I am glad to hear that; I know that with Balthazar, it will be an easier fight." Sophia smiled, "I actually came here to call you Aurora... Hannah wishes to speak to you, she is much better now, Sam seems to have had a hand in that." The archangel gave her sister a look which clearly said that Sophia knew what Aurora was planning.

"That's good, thank you Chuck... oh, one more thing, Sophia, have my brothers left yet?" Aurora changed the topic without any difficulty.

"No, they are still here. Dean was saying that there is yet an hour or two left before their group heads out." Sophia decided now wasn't the best time to talk to Aurora about what she had done.

"Alright, well I better go to Hannah then... I have a lot of explaining to do." With a wave to Sophia and Chuck, she made her way outside the library.

Once Aurora had left, Sophia was about to leave as well but waited for a moment because she sensed that Chuck wanted to speak with her.

"Is everything alright?" She asked the prophet, wondering what was on his mind.

"Huh? Oh yes... yes, everything's fine... nothing's wrong..." Chuck was back to his nervous talking which was the obvious giveaway.

"I think that there is something you wish to ask me?" Sophia questioned him, looking at Chuck very curiously.

"Yes... I... uhh... well I was merely wondering... you... ah... how do I say this... without offending you? I do not... I hope it isn't too personal." Chuck was rambling, fidgeting a little with his empty drink glass.

"Please do not worry about offending me, you are a prophet of God, Chuck... your intentions are not to hurt anyone... let alone myself, ask me anything you like." She smiled at him, knowing that it would help to calm his nerves.

"Well... okay then... I.. umm... I heard you mention that you were the Archangel of Love and Wisdom... and I was... well I was wondering..." Chuck found that he couldn't finish forming his question.

"How it is possible for one archangel to possess two powers?" Sophia completed his sentence softly, knowing this was what she had expected, "It is usually not this way... my original power is Wisdom."

"Pistis Sophia is known as the Archangel of Wisdom." Chuck interjected accidentally.

"Yes. I am known as Pistis Sophia as well... but Sophia has a more human ring to it, does it not?" Before Chuck could answer her question, the archangel went on speaking, "You want to know how I possess the power of love also? It is because my soulmate was Chamuel, the archangel of love. But after he... died... I took up his abilities." Sophia appeared to be quite calm as she spoke.

"Wait a minute... are you saying that you have already been bonded? To an archangel? You were bonded to the archangel of love, Chamuel?" Chuck's eyes grew wide with surprise as he took in what he had just heard.

"You sound surprised." It wasn't a question but more of a statement and Sophia seemed to be confused when she saw Chuck's reaction.

Just then, the library doors burst open and Ellen rushed inside. "Oh good! You're still here Chuck, could you help us out? Bobby seems to be trying some crazy idea of his... using dynamite to blow up the factory or something? Could you please come and tell him how dangerous it is?" She seemed to be very worried.

"Uh... of course Ellen, I'll be just a minute..." Chuck said to Ellen before speaking to Sophia again, "I really am sorry Sophia, I wasn't expecting to hear you say that... though from what I have heard of the past few nights' events, your bond being broken would explain how the barriers around the mansion were not strong enough... your powers weakened after Chamuel..." He trailed off knowing there was no need to continue.

"Yes... they did... but I still do not understand why it is so unexpected to learn I was bonded? Almost all the angels have already been bonded to their soulmates... Cas and Aurora are one of the exceptions..." Sophia explained but was yet puzzled over Chuck's initial response of shock.

"Forgive me, I was mistaken." Chuck started to say as he stood up to follow Ellen, who was waiting for him by the entrance, "I thought that you were Balthazar's soulmate."

When she heard that, Sophia fell down on the sofa looking stunned. By the time she had recovered, the archangel realized that Chuck and Ellen had already left the library. Sophia could still hear the prophet's last words ringing in her ears,_ "I thought that you were Balthazar's soulmate."_ What had made him say something like that? Along with that thought, there were at least a couple of dozen more thoughts that began to flood Sophia's mind just then. Just as she was trying to make sense of all the questions and doubts, she remembered Balthazar's words to her the previous night before Raphael had broken in... he had spoken about how Sophia could find love if she wanted to.

"_If you just believe that someone is out there for you who can fill up that missing half of your soul then nothing can stop you from being happy."_

"Was Balthazar referring to himself?" The thought finally entered Sophia's mind and with a start, she realized that it wasn't leaving her.

But instead of dwelling on the thought, Sophia stood up once again and cleared her head. Now was not the time to be thinking of such things, she had to go and check in with the others. Dean and Sam would soon be leaving with Castiel to stop the Croatoan virus from being released and spreading an epidemic disease. She prayed that there would be time for her to talk to Castiel.

Closing the doors to the library, Sophia made her way towards the den where everyone was going through the last minute details of the mission. Jo told her that Aurora and Hannah had gone to their room to speak privately, but Sophia barely registered the young hunter's words; she found herself staring across the room at Castiel who was deep in conversation with... Balthazar. Seeing him now made her feel as if she were looking at him for the first time, truly looking.

She felt her heart flutter just then and nearly gasped... since she had been here on Earth, her heart would always flutter at the sight of someone who was handsome or charming... but just then, when she saw Balthazar glance up and lock gazes with her, she felt something else, a kind of a pull towards him. It was a feeling she couldn't really describe, but it was one she knew all too well – two angels who were destined soulmates would always be able to feel their souls connecting with each other. And that was exactly what Sophia was experiencing right now.

"... you sure about this Sammy?" Dean's voice cracked through Sophia's wall of confused thoughts, snapping her back to the present.

"Positive Dean, look at this page right here. The shipment is going straight from the manufacturing company, which means our best chance at stopping this is to strike the factory..." Sam was pouring over the newspaper which had a full article about a new vaccine for the swine flu.

"And this factory belongs to the same company eh?" Bobby was already busy loading some of their weapons.

"Niveus Pharmaceuticals. That's the one." Jo replied, having read the article over Sam's shoulder. "Looks like you were right after all, Chuck." She added, grinning at the prophet.

"Perfect. We know the place and time, all we gotta do is grab us some C4 and we're good to go." Dean jumped up, ready to leave already.

"Whoa, wait a minute... C4?" Jo exclaimed in surprise when she heard Dean's plan. "You guys are gonna use explosives to blow up the warehouse? You're agreeing with Bobby's plan?" The older hunter had already recommended dynamite and now Dean was talking about using C4.

"How else do you expect us to blow the place up?" Dean retaliated, not meaning to sound angry.

"Do you have any idea how stupid your idea is Dean? What if there are employees in there who are still human? Or what if one of you guys get caught inside? Its a dangerous idea!" Jo wished that there was some way she could knock some sense into Dean, their plan wasn't foolproof because Chuck hadn't given them the specific details either.

"Jo, hey... Jo, listen to me... I know its a dangerous plan, but its the best one we got... and don't worry, we have Cas with us, he'll make sure that the place is deserted save for the virus and all the demons, we'll set up the explosives at the entrance and blow the place to the ground... we won't be near it at all." Dean had grabbed her by the shoulders and made her look him in the eyes. He understood Jo's worry for him.

"But..." She started to protest until Dean covered her mouth with one of his hands.

"Jo, you gotta trust me... you do trust me don't you? I promise nothing is gonna happen to me nor anyone else." The look that Dean gave her, with his eyes filled with every intention of fulfilling that promise.

"Alright, but be careful. All of you." Jo finally gave up and tried to calm her nerves.

"We will, and don't worry about my brother... I'll keep an eye out for him." Sam whispered to Jo as he came over to give her a hug.

"And take care of yourself too." She told Sam, knowing that with her mom and Bobby there, Dean would be okay.

"If you'll are done with the chick flick moment, we have to get ready to leave now." Bobby grumbled from the other side. He wasn't up for any hugs just yet.

"We're done," Dean said to Bobby before turning to Sam, "Just like old times eh Sammy?" He winked at his brother, "Shall we hug too?" He teased.

"Shut up Dean." Sam said to Dean.

"Bitch." That was obviously from Dean, who was grinning like a five year old.

"Jerk." Sam answered, smiling as well. They hadn't called each other names for a long time now and it felt like the old days again.

Laughing, both the brothers ended up leaving the den, while the others just sighed deeply. This was random and yet typical of Sam and Dean; Bobby muttered something about the brothers being idjits before he picked up the few rifles he had and headed outside to get everything ready.

Nearly an hour later, everyone was all set to leave. Dean and Sam were already loading the Impala's trunk with half their ammunitions while Castiel had chosen to help Bobby with the Chevy truck. Inside the house, Sophia found herself in the hall talking to Ellen just before the hunter left; after a few minutes, she heard both the cars revving up and soon they had made their way out of Sophia's driveway. The plan was to drive to a safe place, away from the mansion, where Castiel would be able to teleport them all directly to the Niveus' Pharmaceuticals warehouse.

"Was that Dean and the others leaving?" Sophia stiffened for a second when she heard the familiar voice of Balthazar very close to her.

She turned around and saw that he was standing a few feet away, but still close enough for her to send a shiver down her spine because of their close contact.

"Yes... Ellen just left with Dean..." Sophia somehow managed to remain steady headed as she spoke.

"Good... that's good." Balthazar said, but for some reason he looked slightly nervous and he wasn't meetin Sophia's eyes which increased her curiosity.

"Balthazar? Is something the matter?" She asked him directly, wondering what had happened in such a short time to make him so worried about something.

He finally glanced up at her, but quickly looked back down. Sophia knew that this was not like his usual behaviour, even when he was around her.

"No, not at all... everything is fine..." Balthazar replied, this time he sounded a little cheerful, "Its perfect actually." He whispered so softly that luckily Sophia didn't hear the last three words.

"Where have the others gone? The house seems too quiet suddenly..." Sophia finally realized the problem, "Aurora and Jo...?" She asked Balthazar, hoping they were somewhere in the house.

"Oh... right... about that..." Balthazar shifted a little uneasily as he tried not to grin, "Jo had to leave with Chuck a few minutes ago, she said that now that we have two more humans in the gang, we need more food." He was of course, referring to Chuck and Hannah.

"Okay..." Sophia felt her heartbeat increasing as she was starting to see where this was going.

"And Aurora left with Hannah just now... to go back to Hannah's apartment in Sioux Falls to get her luggage... they should be back soon." He explained.

"That means..." Sophia felt her initial fear vanishing as it dawned on her that...

"You and I are the only ones in the mansion right now." Balthazar finished Sophia's sentence.

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**Balthy and Sophia alone together! Aurora's memory of Mary? Which one was better? Reviews?**


	56. Author's Note

**To all my readers: **

The story has been put on a temporary and indefinite hiatus because unfortunately I have fallen sick and that is why I haven't been able to update it further. I have viral fever and a terrible cold and cough, so until I don't get cured I won't be able to continue the fanfic, even though all these days I have been trying to find the energy to do so because even when I'm sick I have a tendency to not let it stop me from writing, but this time I just feel really sleepy every hour, so haven't gotten any writing done.

As soon as I'm better I'll jump right back into writing because I miss it a lot and being sick is really boring! Hehehe... sorry for the delay but I know it won't be for too long! ^_^


	57. Chapter 56

Hello everyone! I'm glad to have had all my readers' patience lasting this long and I do apologize for the long delay, I'd like to thank **Caschick23, Joyceeluna, valeskathesilverwolf, minaghostwolf and bekkers29 **for their reviews and wishes for my health! I'm all better now and ready to get back to writing this story! Here's a really very long chapter! ^_^

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For a few minutes after hearing Balthazar's words, Sophia was silent and did not say a word. But she was thinking about what it meant now that they were the only people inside her house; instead of feeling calm and relaxed about it, Sophia found herself a little anxious and yet again felt her heartbeat increasing in speed. She didn't know why she suddenly felt so conscious around Balthazar and began to think back on Chuck's words to her again._"I thought that Balthazar was your soul-mate."_

How was it even possible for someone who had barely just arrived to have made such an assumption? Sophia didn't understand what Chuck had seen to make him think that way. But then again, Prophet's didn't lie. It was all very confusing for Sophia; she needed some answers and luckily knew where to get them from.

"Sophia?" Balthazar's voice roused the archangel from her thoughts and she glanced up at him to see a worried look cross his features. "Are... are you alright?" He asked her.

"Yes. I was just thinking about something." Sophia replied with a smile, and oddly enough, it felt as if she could feel her heart smiling as well.

"Ah... well... I guess we're free for another hour or two more..." Balthazar was still a little nervous about their current situation.

"I think we'll be able to hold the fort down until the others return, don't you think?" Sophia brushed off any inexplicable feelings that she was suddenly experiencing and focused on finding some answers.

"I think we can," He agreed with Sophia and seeing her appear calm seemed to have an effect on him. "But we do need something to do until Aurora and the others return."

Before saying anything else, Sophia had walked over to the staircase where Balthazar stood and then told him of her idea.

"I was hoping you could help me out with something," She started to tell him when she realized that their proximity to each other was making her feel a little giddy and stepped back to let some space in between them. "I... uhh... I have some work in my study and..." But Sophia was finding it difficult to form coherent sentences when she was losing herself staring into Balthazar's eyes.

"And I'm glad to be of any help that I can." Balthazar finished her sentence for her with a smile; he could sense the change Sophia was going through but hadn't figured everything out yet.

"Good. That's good... shall we get to it then?" Sophia found herself grabbing hold of the banister for support, her knees were suddenly giving up on her and the heartbeats were getting erratic again.

"After you, milady!" With a wave of his hand, Balthazar bowed down dramatically and elicited a laugh from Sophia, one that sounded like bells tinkling together to his ears while warming his heart at the same time.

Sophia shook her head, still smiling brightly as she headed upstairs to her study that was located on the second floor of her house; the one Dean had discovered previously was more of an office for Sara Tomasi and Dr. Sarah Thomas while the one she and Balthazar entered was solely dedicated to her work as an archangel. This was where she would find it. The one thing that could finally answer the lingering question on her mind which had crept up unbeknownst to her – _Had there been a mistake?_

"Wow... this place looks even bigger than your library!" Balthazar exclaimed as soon as he entered the study.

His words could not have been more true for not only was this study larger than the library in terms of space, it was also much more filled up with everything about Angels, Archangels and Heaven. The library consisted of novels and some Enochian books as well but this study contained ancient scrolls, scriptures, really big books and a lot of glass cabinets. Balthazar knew very well of what lay inside each of them for he was the one who had given the objects to Sophia for safe-keeping. In all of the glass cabinets lay a single item, a weapon of Heaven.

"Yes well I needed a secure place to store all of these," Sophia said to him as she waved her hand towards the cabinets, some of them located in the center of the room, while others were situated across the walls, "And this is where I've kept all of my work as the Archangel of Love – the names of people who are supposed to be together." She elaborated and then made her way through the maze of cabinets with Balthazar following close behind her.

"Wow... I didn't realize how much there was until now." He commented as he passed by several mystical artifacts that he himself had stolen from Heaven just before he had left.

There was the Staff of Moses laying inside one of the cabinets, Lot's Salt in another, Gabriel's Horn of Truth, a golden knife, the Spear of Destiny, Excalibur, the Philosopher's Stone, a long sword sheathed in black and gold leather among various other items. At the end of the study was Sophia's desk which was pristinely neat even though there were many books and documents laying on them. Without a second's thought, Sophia simply picked them all up and placed them by the window that was behind the desk.

"Right, that's that... now to work." Sophia muttered to herself as she began to flip through the big book that she had left on the desk.

"And what exactly is this work?" Balthazar chimed in, wondering why Sophia had suddenly become so mysterious about whatever she wanted to do.

"We're looking for a book... a very big one, its silver in color and a very important one so it must be somewhere inside the safe." Sophia explained to him. That was the book which would tell her the truth.

"Okay... and where's the safe?" Balthazar looked all around the room and only saw aisles of shelves reaching the ceiling, but nothing that seemed as if it could hold a safe.

"Its behind that aisle over there," Sophia pointed out to a shelf that was on her right, the second one from the window, "You'll need to find the Book of Enochian Rituals, I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about." She explained to him, having left the book aside and was now working on her laptop.

"I know the one." Balthazar answered and made his way over to the shelf where he began to search for the book.

It was easy to do so for most of the shelf was filled with scrolls and long parchments while only three sections had books. Within five minutes, Balthazar's finger touched the spine of an old brown leather bound book, it had gold Enochian lettering and as soon as he pulled out the book, Balthazar found that the shelf clicked open, the three sections of books parted horizontally and revealed a hidden cache of books within. There were about half a dozen thick and ancient books and right at the top lay a silver one.

"I found it." Balthazar called out to Sophia as he reached in and gently took the book out of the safe and closing it, went back to the desk.

"Thanks." Sophia replied without looking up from the work she was doing on the computer.

Balthazar was still intrigued by this sudden change in her behavior and so, in order to figure out what was going on with Sophia, he quietly set the book next to her elbow and went to stand behind her, hoping to get a closer look at her computer screen. It wasn't until he had bent down beside her did Sophia realize that Balthazar was barely a few centimeters away from her; their shoulders were already touching and she could feel his breath tickling her cheek as he lowered his head to squint at the screen.

"What are you doing with an image enhancing program?" Balthazar's question broke Sophia's thoughts that were already starting to get muddled up.

"I'm... I... Chuck mentioned somethng to me earlier and I wanted to check up on it. And since all of these books are a couple of decades old, the writing must have faded away more or less... which is why I'll need to use this program to help me get a clearer look." She managed to explain her basic idea to Balthazar, without revealing any details.

"Hmm... makes sense..." Balthazar mused, just then his eyes happened to fall on the silver book that was next to Sophia. "Hey, is that what I think it is?" He asked Sophia sounding surprised as he read the title.

"It is." Sophia finally left the computer and pulled the book closer to her, but hesitated before opening it. She could not let Balthazar know what she was looking for. Not yet.

"Wow... I had no idea that you actually had this with you... does this really have everyone's names in it?" Balthazar was hoping that his name was also there.

"Yes. All of the angels and archangels names are written in this book along with their respective soul-mates." Sophia remembered something just then. "Balthazar, could I trouble you for one more favor? I know this is not what you had planned in mind when you realized that we had some free time on our hands..."

"Are you kidding me? What could be better than spending time with the most beautiful archangel searching through old ancient dusty books for information!" Balthazar exclaimed sincerely, not sarcastically.

Sophia blushed when she heard Balthazar call her beautiful, and let out a breath she had unconsciously held when he finally stood up and made his way towards another of the shelves, pretending to examine them.

"Balthazar, what _are_ you trying to do?" Sophia couldn't help but laugh again as she saw the angel remove his long black jacket and began to shuffle the books around, shifting them from one shelf to the other, with a serious grim look on his face.

"You said you needed a favor," Balthazar answered her without looking away from his work, "I figured you meant its time you organized everything here and put it in order. I'm alphabetizing the books over here or do you think its better if we do it according to importance?" He still didn't stop as he picked up a slightly lighter book and swapped its original place with a thick one.

"When I said I needed a favor, it was actually not to do with books Balthazar..." Sophia told him, "I was hoping for you to look at those scrolls in the box beside you." She said, pointing at a cardboard box that was filled with a lot of scrolls. "I'm looking for the Enochian list of the names of Archangels. This book has them in English." Indicating to the silver book, Sophia finally opened it up.

"Ah. So no cleaning then?" Balthazar pretended to sound as if he were disappointed.

"No. no cleaning." Sophia simply said as she tried not to let her smile stretch too much; shaking her head she went back to flipping through the pages of the book.

"Alright then, its time to look at these scrolls." And with that, Balthazar grabbed the box in one hand and walked over to the desk where he sat down opposite Sophia and began rifling through them.

For several moments, there was a comfortable silence between the two angels as they worked. Sophia was gently turning the pages of the old book, pausing only to read the titles and then moving on; she was looking for the list of all the names of the Archangels. Luckily, Balthazar was engrossed in his own work that he couldn't see what Sophia was searching for. Eventually, after going through the third scroll, Balthazar decided that there was no harm in a little polite conversation and so he ended the prolonged silence by speaking up first.

"You know what Sophia?" He suddenly said as he slowly opened the fourth scroll to examine.

"Hmm?" She looked up briefly and met his gaze but couldn't hold it for long for she found herself staring at him a little more intently, without his jacket Balthazar was dressed simply in a grey v-neck t-shirt and Sophia's eyes were wandering too much.

"Don't you find it a little odd that we've both been on Earth for the past 25 years and haven't met until now?" Balthazar finally asked Sophia, hoping he was going to get something out of her.

"It is a little odd..." Sophia started to say as she went back to the book, "But I was never in one place just like you never were... most of my time was spent in Europe traveling from country to country and doing my job." She explained.

"Europe? Really? I was there for a few years myself... but I guess we must have missed each other." Balthazar smiled to himself as he went on talking, "I remember visiting Paris, Greece, Venice, Italy, Egypt, London, Scotland, Europe is definitely a good place to start spreading the love." He added as an afterthought, knowing his point was made.

As soon as Sophia heard the names Greece, Italy and London, she almost snapped her head up in surprise. Those were the three cities in which she had managed to stay for longer than she had expected, because that was where she had allowed herself to fall in love, if that was even what it had been. Sophia remembered clearly that she had dated three men in the course of her 25 years down on Earth and only recently, as Sara Tomasi had been involved in a 5 year relationship with a man from London – Robert Greene.

"Oh, that's nice. Sounds like you were doing some traveling of your own." Sophia said out loud as her mind went back to the time when she was dating Robert, they had broken up almost six or seven years ago and she hadn't heard of him since then.

"Yea, I went to South America as well but decided that I prefer the US better." Balthazar replied, closing up the sixth scroll.

"It is nice here..." Sophia's voice was soft and distant, she was thinking about something. Another thought was forming in her head... but she shook it off, it had to have been a coincidence, nothing more.

She was sure that if she had ever encountered Balthazar once in all these years then she would have been able to recognize him. But how? His eyes could have been hidden by contacts just like Aurora... the tattoo. Surely she would have seen it when she was with Robert and the others, but she hadn't come across anything. With a sigh she realized that the tattoo could also be hidden.

"_Why am I thinking so much about this?" _Sophia found herself thinking, _"There's no way that Balthazar was Robert nor could he have been... or could he?"_ She glanced down at the page she had just turned to and saw that it was what she had been looking for.

"I don't think the Enochian version is in here." Balthazar suddenly spoke up, "I'm already on the eighth one and there's no sign of it."

"That's unexpected." Sophia looked up at him and an idea formed in her mind. "If you don't mind me asking so suddenly Balthazar, but who exactly are you possessing right now? I just never got around to asking you before... Cas is Jimmy Novak and Aurora is Ashley Winchester... but you haven't said anything about your vessel." She hoped the sudden randomness of the question wouldn't raise his suspicions. Sophia was merely curious.

"Funny you should ask that so suddenly, especially after Aurora asked me the same thing just before leaving." Balthazar smiled as he spoke, "I happen to have changed vessels recently, about six years ago I found this guy in France, he's a French model... Sebastian something... I keep forgetting."

Six years ago. That meant if Balthazar was in France six years ago, he could have been in London just before that and possessed Robert! Sophia tried to understand what she was suddenly thinking about... the possibility that Balthazar was Robert existed now and if he was Robert then surely before that he could have also been Eric, her boyfriend in Greece and Carlos, from Italy! But what did it mean? And how could she not have known it?

"A french model? Much more interesting that an accountant or a dance teacher." Sophia knew how to hide her conflicting emotions from everyone but found herself struggling to find out who were the humans Balthazar had possessed before taking Sebastian.

"It used to have its perks. Now at 36, this guy is getting old." Balthazar joked and then added, "I've gone through all ten scrolls and there's no list of archangel names anywhere."

Hearing him say that brought Sophia back to the present. She remembered that she had found the list in her book. Looking through the names, Sophia scanned for the one name that was going to give her the answer she wanted.

_A... B... C... Ca... Ch... Chamuel._ It was here. She managed to read Chamuel's name clearly and silently prayed to God that the name next to his was not hers.

"Did you find anything?" Balthazar asked, though he remained seated where he was. He saw Sophia look closely at the page she was on and was tracing the name of an archangel. Her own perhaps?

"Yes... I think I did..." Sophia was disappointed to see that the name of the archangel who was Chamuel's soulmate had faded away, there was only a faint outline of the black ink remaining.

Without looking up, she opened a drawer next to her and removed a magnifying glass, hoping she would see clearer with it. Going back to the name beside Chamuel she managed to make out one letter, _A_. At the end. Without hesitating, Sophia suddenly began to flip backwards until she had reached another page and began to scan the names there, but instead of being written alphabetically, these angels names had been organized according to rank. _Ezekiel, Seraphiel, Joshua, Leo, Castiel... Balthazar. _She immediately traced the line and found the name of Balthazar's destined soulmate. Unfortunately that too was faded out, and all she could make out was an _S_ at the beginning. It could mean anything. Looking at Castiel, she saw that his name was nearly fading away and only _Au..o..r _was visible of Aurora's name. It was time she used the image ehancer to get a better look at those two names. Chamuel's soulmate ended with an A and Balthazar's began with an S, but which one of the two was Sophia?

"Do you need some help with that?" Balthazar asked Sophia as he stood up to keep the box of scrolls aside.

"No, I think I know how to work this, thanks." Sophia replied, sounding distant. But when she realized what she had done she immediately added before Balthazar could say anything, "You've helped a lot already, I didn't want to bother you more with something so tiny."

"It was no bother at all, any time you need some help just let me know." Balthazar didn't feel bad, he was still curious but knew that Sophia would tell him why she was being so secretive sooner or later.

"You said that you couldn't find the Enochian scroll with the names of the archangels in there right?" She asked him as she rummaged through the desk to find a camera.

"Nothing but weird rituals and a lot of weird stuff that even I couldn't figure out." He had only read the titles and maybe the first few lines but there was nothing important.

"Hmm... I guess that it must have gotten misplaced in another box." Sophia clicked a picture of the two pages and began to upload them onto the laptop.

Balthazar stood patiently, watching as Sophia began to scan the pictures and in about few minutes was sure that she had started to enhance them. In the meantime, she picked up the book and crossing over from the desk started to go to leave it back in the safe when she was stopped.

"Allow me." Balthazar didn't give her a chance to protest as he slowly took the silver book from her hands into his and walked over to leave it where it belonged.

"I think we're done here for now. The program should take an hour more to finish." Sopha told him, wondering what they were going to do till then.

"So what's our plan?" Balthazar seemed to have heard her thoughts but as soon as he turned around he saw that Sophia wasn't leaning against the desk anymore. "Sophia?" A worried look crossed his face as he looked around the study for her.

"I'm over here!" Sophia's voice rang out from the other side of the room. "Sorry about that! I just remembered something." She said to him loudly.

Sophia was standing on top of a ladder against one of the shelves at the front of the study, close to the entrance. There was another box of scrolls laying atop the shelf and she was trying to reach for it. Balthazar was halfway to her when he saw that Sophia had almost reached the last step of the ladder but in calling out to him she missed the step and slipped, falling off the ladder and landing onto something soft and strong.

"Good thing I'm an angel." Balthazar's voice whispered in Sophia's ears as she held on to her in his arms. He had teleported right on time and caught her as she fell.

Blinking, Sophia opened her eyes and found that her arms were wrapped tightly around Balthazar's neck. Instinct of course. She didn't realize when she had fallen and when he had caught her, but luckily he had. Sophia's breathing was slowly coming back to normal but she could still feel the adrenaline pumping through her as her heart continued to beat frantically and somehow, Sophia knew it wasn't only because she had been saved from a bad fall.

"Thanks..." She managed to whisper, her voice was a little shaky and didn't let go of her hold around him because something about this sudden unexpected situation seemed right to her.

"You're welcome." Balthazar gave Sophia a small smile but wasn't showing signs of letting her down either.

The two of them remained where they were, Balthazar holding Sophia in his arms staring into her chocolate brown eyes while she held on, gazing back into his bright blue eyes. Neither angel moved for even a second and were vaugely aware that this was the closest they had been since the night in the library before Raphael's intrusion. Sophia could feel Balthazar's warm musky breath on her lips and found herself leaning in closer and closer until she was sure their lips were almost touching when all of a sudden the doorbell rang.

Immediately, Balthazar and Sophia snapped out of their trance with him gently putting Sophia back on her own feet. Embarassed by what had just happened but with no signs of regret from either of them, Balthazar mumbled something about going to answer the door and hurriedly left the study, with Sophia watching him go.

"What was that?" A voice from somewhere behind Sophia startled her and the archangel let out a loud gasp as she spun around and found herself face to face with Aurora.

"Aurora! Where did you come from?" Sophia exclaimed. "I thought you were with Hannah... Balthazar said you would be gone for two hours." She had clutched a hand to her heart to clam it down.

The other angel grinned as she placed an arm around Sophia's shoulders and guided her back inside the study towards her desk.

"I just returned with Hannah. We tried looking for you but neither you nor Balthazar were in the usual rooms so I came here on a hunch. And I think the bell ringing was bad timing wasn't it?" Aurora said to Sophia giving her a wink. "Chuck and Jo ruined the perfect moment for you and Balthazar!"

"I... I don't know... what you're talking about." Sophia blushed deeply as she stammered, cursing herself for being so naïve to have nearly done that.

"Sophia! Don't lie to me... I'm your sister! I saw what almost happened back there, you nearly kissed _Balthazar_!" Aurora was acting like a little girl who was nearly bursting with happiness and excitement as she tried to control herself.

"I... I was... I didn't..." Sophia struggled to find the right words but was at a loss to do so. Resigned to defeat, the archangel dropped down onto her chair and fell silent.

Aurora, who was standing next to Sophia caught sign of the computer screen and saw what was on it. As soon as she realized what was being enhanced, she turned to Sophia with a puzzled expression on her face. She didn't understand what was going on.

"What is this Sophia?" Aurora asked her sister, "Why are you scanning these lists of angels and their soulmates?" There was genuine concern and confusion in her tone.

Sophia took one look at the screen and then lifted her head to Aurora, silently contemplating her answer for a second. In that second, she managed to run through everything that had happened with Balthazar in the past hour in her mind and with sigh realized that by opening up to Aurora, she was allowing herself to admit the possibility of her true situation.

"Aurora..." Sophia started to say but hesitated for a moment, was she really ready for this? It would mean that there was a chance at her finding happiness again and there was nothing that she wanted more in the whole world to feel happy, to love and be loved once again.

"Sophia? You can trust me with whatever it is. I promise I won't tell anyone about this, not even Cas... what is it?" She was holding both of Sophia's hands in hers and was looking anxiously at her sister.

"I think... I think that... Aurora... I think I may have been bonded to the wrong angel." Sophia confessed.

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**Dun-dun-dun! A huge chapter! Sophia's revelation probably explains everything now doesn't it? Reviews?**


	58. Chapter 57

I'd like to say **Thank You! **To my readers: **valeskathesilverwolf, joyceeluna, minaghostwolf **and to the new reader, **sueboo** for all your great comments! Here's the next chapter! ^_^

**Disclaimer:** All the angels in my fanfiction are not going to meet the same fate as the angels on the show. I promise that.

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_"I think... I think that... Aurora... I think I may have been bonded to the wrong angel." Sophia confessed._

"What do you mean, you were bonded to the wrong angel?" Aurora didn't give herself time to let the words sink in; as soon as she heard them the only thing on her mind was a lot of confusion. "How is that even possible?" She found herself asking Sophia.

"I don't know for sure Aurora... I said _might_ which means there is a possibility that there could have been a mistake..." Sophia sighed as she realized what this was starting to sound like.

"Okay... so you're saying that there's a chance that Cam wasn't your destined soulmate? And that you were unknowningly bound to him? But how did you figure this out and why now?" Aurora wasn't upset, in fact, the thought of there being a mistake opened up a chance for Balthazar.

On hearing Aurora ask her that, Sophia found herself at a loss for words; the only way she could tell Aurora how she had reached this conclusion was to explain everything to her, and that included revealing her feelings for Balthazar as well. Yes, Sophia had already resigned herself to the fact that she had some feelings for Balthazar, the only problem was that she had no idea what those feelings meant.

"_Well?_" Aurora prodded, hoping to get some details from Sophia. She was getting impatient now.

Taking a deep breath, Sophia finally spoke up, "I spoke with Chuck a few hours ago and just before he left, he said something to me which made me think that maybe there had been a mistake... that maybe Chamuel was not supposed to be my soulmate."

"And what exactly did Chuck say to you that brought about this sudden idea to look up your name in the book?" Aurora was curious to know the details.

"He said," She paused. "Chuck told me..." She tried it one more time, "That... he... he thought..." Why was it so hard for her to say it?

"Chuck thought what?" Another nudge from Aurora was hopefully what Sophia needed.

"He thought that Balthazar was my soulmate." There. She finally said it out loud, and in such a hurry that if Aurora hadn't been right next to Sophia, she wouldn't have been able to catch a single word.

"Are you serious?" Aurora nearly squealed in delight as her eyes brightened and her smile widened. "Chuck thought that Balthazar was your _soulmate_! Oh my God! That is the best thing I have heard in a really long time!" Aurora was beaming with happiness.

"Yes well... umm... I came up here to find the list of angels..." Sophia went on with her story, not commenting on Aurora's outburst, but visibly flustered.

"And, and what did you find?" Aurora was excited now, she was praying that Sophia was right in her suspicion.

"Something odd. The Enochian list is missing... but in the English version... Chamuel's soulmate's name ends with an A... and Balthazar's begins with an S." Sophia finished.

"Oh. Wow!" Aurora was definitely surprised to hear that, but she was still happy. "This suddenly sounds like a story right out of Hollywood. There are two names of angels in that list of soulmates and any one of them is yours, but which? I could list those names I remember that start with S or end with A, there aren't that many, right?" She turned to Sophia, looking hopeful.

"No, not that many. About two dozen names give or take." Sophia replied, smiling at Aurora, knowing that it was a lot of angels to go through.

"Hmm... okay, I get why you're going with the image enhancer. By all means, proceed." Aurora said that, but she herself turned to face the computer screen to check on the progress.

"Only 8% complete." Sophia frowned, sounding a little let down by the slow speed.

"Someone's becoming impatient." Aurora knew it was time to start the teasing, that way she would finally learn Sophia's real feelings for Balthazar.

"What? No... I'm not impatient. Just wondering why its taking so long. That's all." Sophia stammered a little and blushed a little.

"Really?" Aurora finally stood up and crossing her arms over her chest raised an eyebrow at the archangel sitting in front of her. "I don't believe you." She grinned as she said that, knowing her trick was working.

"Fine. Don't believe me, but that's all there is to this." Sophia focused her eyes on the screen and away from Aurora.

"I don't think that's all there is..." Aurora unfolded her arms and sat herself down by the windowsill and pulled Sophia's chair around so that they were face to face.

"Okay, Aurora... tell me what you think." Sophia sighed in defeat, she was going to have to listen to Aurora.

"I think that... you are hoping to be proven right and that when the result comes, your name will not be next to Cam's, but next to Balthazar's." It was hard for her to keep a straight and composed face when she said that, but Aurora knew that this was the time to be serious.

Sophia fell silent. She didn't know what to say to Aurora after hearing that, she wasn't even sure if everything Aurora said was true. Or did she? Her hesitation seemed to be visible on her face, for Sophia felt Aurora's hand squeeze hers gently and she looked up to see the other angel smiling softly.

"I know its hard to accept Sophia. And a lot to take in, because if you're right then that means that the past thirty years of your life have been spent healing over a broken bond that was never meant to be formed in the first place." Aurora was slowly getting a little sober in her words now.

"I understand that Aurora... but that's not what is bothering me right now." Sophia figured if she had to open up about everything then including her feelings for Balthazar was a given.

"If that's not bothering you then what is?" Aurora had a pretty good idea but she wanted Sophia to allow herself the choice of talking about it willingly.

"Balthazar..." Sophia said quietly; his name flowed over her lips and that one word was enough to make her heart feel warm. "I've been thinking a lot about him, not in that sense," She added, noticing Aurora's big smile returning. "I just feel a little confused right now, Aurora. There are these _feelings_ that I'm beginning to have towards him that I cannot seem to explain. I know it sounds odd, but when I'm around Balthazar, everything seems to be heightened in ways that I have _never_ felt before. There are a lot of emotions in me that don't make sense at all... he makes me feel..." Sophia paused over there, trying to find the right word to explain to Aurora how exactly Balthazar made her feel, but Aurora spoke up before Sophia could say anything else.

"Complete. He makes you feel complete doesn't he?" Aurora's voice was soft, she still sounded a little too overjoyed but was calmer now.

Sophia looked at Aurora for a moment and thought about it, complete? Was that the right word?

"I feel... happy when I'm with him. Just... pure and simple happy." She finally answered, and then went on, "And a part of me believes that you're right Aurora... I think it feels like Balthazar completes me. I have not felt like this for anyone before, not really... but..." Sophia found herself thinking back to her past once again.

"But what Sophia?" Aurora knew there was something else that Sophia had not told her yet.

"Its nothing really, I just... I have been thinking a lot about the years that have gone by since I have come here. Balthazar mentioned that he had been in Europe around the time that I was... and he was even in the same cities... at least I think he was." Sophia wished she knew more, she wanted to know about Balthazar's previous vessels before he had taken Sebastian.

"Oh." This was news to Aurora, "That's interesting... I didn't know about this... it raises a lot of questions doesn't it?"

"Yes. It does." Sophia replied softly, looking a little sad. What was she going to do now?

Aurora had sensed Sophia's sudden change in her mood and realized that even though there was a very big chance that Sophia was in love with Balthazar and they were probably destined soulmates, she still needed to make sure that the two of them managed to talk to each other about everything. For now, Aurora took Sophia's hand in hers and squeezed it lightly, again. She was going to help both Sophia and Balthazar with Castiel of course.

"Don't worry Sophia... I know where we can find some answers.. we just have to wait for Cas to return, he and Balthazar were in contact with each other over the years, I'm definitely positive that he'll be able to help us out." Aurora reassured the archangel.

Before Sophia could say anything else, there was a knock on the study door and a second later, the person of their conversation, Balthazar was standing in front of them, smiling happily.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything ladies?" He asked them as he took note of their serious expressions and wondered what he had teleported into.

"Not at all, you're never a bother dear brother!" Aurora brightened up as soon as she saw Balthazar and noticed that Sophia was smiling a lot just at the sight of him being there with them.

"We were only talking." She added, not realizing when his gaze on her started to make her blush.

"Well then, I hope you both are done with gossiping because I am here to escort you'll downstairs where you will find that Jo and Hannah are busy in the kitchen, baking pies for all of us!" Balthazar figured it was a good enough excuse to get Aurora and Sophia to rejoin the real world again.

"It looks as if Hannah's finally coping with the new world she's found herself in." Sophia commented as she accepted Balthazar's outstretched hand without any hesitation.

"Yes, she's much better now. We had a lot of time to talk today... Hannah told me that she wants to help out as much as she can." Aurora was about to leave Balthazar's other hand, but a wide-eyed look from Sophia made her change her mind.

"Perfect! We can start training again." Balthazar exclaimed as the three of them reached the kitchen where he found Chuck sitting quietly with a notepad in his hand, writing something in a rush.

"Training?" Hannah suddenly said as she heard the word, "I... I was thinking if... I could join in?" She directed her question to Aurora.

"Why not? We could start after you and Jo are finished in the kitchen." Aurora smiled at Hannah, glad that she had her friend back.

"We're done already." Jo piped in from behind Hannah, wiping her hands of flour, "How are we going to do this though? There's 5 of us."

"I was thinking you and Hannah could take turns with me. I'll start teaching Hannah the basics and afterwards, the two of us can train together." Aurora answered immediately, a clever plan forming in her head.

"And what about me? I could train Jo..." Balthazar started to say and then it hit him; he understood where Aurora was going with this.

"Actually," Jo turned to Balthazar as she caught on to the plan as well, "I was wondering if I could see you and Sophia train together, I haven't seen you two together yet."

"Two angels training together yet." Aurora corrected Jo, as she tried not to laugh at the young hunter's obvious comment.

Luckily, neither Sophia nor Balthazar had realized Jo's mistake. They merely exchanged a look with each other and nodded in agreement. The two of them were going to train together.

"This is going to be very interesting." Chuck said under his breath as he stood up, having remained quiet all this while, but listening to the others' conversation.

Ten minutes later found Balthazar, Aurora, Hannah, Jo, Sophia and Chuck in the hall. They had shifted some of the furniture in order for them to have more space and once their weapons were laid out, the first pair, Aurora and Hannah began to train while everyone else sat down watching them. It took a little while, but because of Aurora's expert training, Hannah was getting good at wielding a knife and understood the basics easily.

"This is going better than I thought it would!" Hannah commented when she and Aurora took a break, "I didn't expect I'd be able to even hold the knife properly." The excitement in her voice of being able to do something good made the others happy too.

"You have it in you to be a good fighter, Hannah." Aurora told her friend as she saw Balthazar and Sophia take their places opposite each other.

"I wouldn't be able to do this without you Ash... sorry... Aurora..." Hannah still was getting used to calling Aurora by her real name and not Ashley.

"I'm glad you decided to stay, I wouldn't want anything to happen to you if... if you had gone to the university alone and defenseless..." Aurora was clearly worried for Hannah's safety.

"Don't worry about me... Aurora... there was no way that I was going to leave you. And besides, I think saving the world from ending is a step higher than working at an archaelogical dig site." Hannah hoped to make Aurora feel that she was capable of protecting herself.

"But this wasn't what you had in mind was it?" The angel asked, "I mean... angels, demons, hunters and what not isn't really on everyone's career option." Aurora was secretly hoping that Hannah would still consider going into safety, the danger of Lucifer or Crowley taking her again was looming over her head.

"Its better than what I wanted. Trust me Aurora... I'm okay with this. Really." Hannah smiled brightly.

"You are a very strong girl, you know that?" Aurora told Hannah as she gave her a quick hug.

"Sorry to cut in, but you two _have_ to see this!" Jo whispered to Aurora, pointing at Balthazar and Sophia, who were both well into their training session and were fighting with a lot of energy and spark.

Aurora and Hannah turned to watch the two angels and were surprised to see that the fight seemed to be in favor of Balthazar, who appeared to have the upperhand for now. During the next few minutes, Sophia tackled him with her angel sword and Balthazar responded with equal intensity; as the fight went on, it became less clear that they were fighting because their movements were in perfect sync with each other that their audience believed that they were watching a dance between Balthazar and Sophia, one that was getting heated.

"Wow." Was all Aurora managed to whisper in amazement as she was captured by the scene in front of her.

Every attack from Sophia was met with a tackle or a parry from Balthazar who deflected each thrust of the angel sword with very little difficulty and he retaliated with several quick, fast-paced moves which Sophia seemed to avoid by stepping aside gracefully and blocking it with her weapon. The two of them did not stay in one place for long but rather moved back and forth, as if they were practising ballet. At one point, Balthazar managed to take Sophia by surprise with a clever trick he had learned from Castiel and even though he hadn't knocked the sword away from her, he grabbed her by the hand and spinning her around to him, her back against his chest, Balthazar tried to pin her with his sword against her neck.

That one moment of closeness between them nearly caught Sophia off-guard as she felt Balthazar's heart beating against her back and sensed the heat between their arms that were both wrapped around each other. But as soon as her head cleared, a second later, Sophia had freed herself and in a quick move she had her sword pointed at Balthazar, nearly touching his chest. It was over. Sophia had won the fight, or so she thought. As soon as she turned her back to Balthazar, he caught her wrist and twisting it gently but with a strong force, made the angel sword fall out of Sophia's hand along with herself as he pinned her to the ground. The two of them lay on the floor of the mattress staring at each other, breathing heavily as they tried to catch their breath. They seemed to have forgotten that the others were still in the hall with them, for a few seconds, they were alone, completely oblivious to Aurora, Hannah, Jo and Chuck's presence; Sophia was pinned under Balthazar and couldn't stop herself from turning bright red as she tried to slow her breathing, but was unable to move her gaze from Balthazar's eyes that seemed to be trailing down from her eyes to her face, down to her lips.

Just then, there was an odd cracking noise that sounded like a gunshot, echoing across the whole house, rousing Sophia and Balthazar from their trance.

"Oh great. The electricity's gone!" Jo grumbled as she realized what had just happened.

As if that wasn't enough a loud banging that reverbrated all throughout suddenly startled everyone and instinctively, the three angels unsheathed their angel swords while waiting for any sign of any kind of intrusion. The noise came again and immediately, everyone turned towards the main doors from where the sound was coming.

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**Uh-oh! Cliffy again, sorry about that! Hope the 'training' scene with Balthazar and Sophia was good enough! Reviews? ^_^**


	59. Chapter 58

I'm terribly sorry for such a long delay in posting this latest chapter, but I'm sure once you read it you'll understand why it took quite some time to write. Hope you all enjoy it! Really long chapter! I just want to say **Thanks!** To my readers: **minaghostwolf, joyceeluna, valeskathesilverwolf** and my new reader, **stupid lamb wannabe!** ^_^

**Disclaimer: **The angel ability of telepathy and its uses are all my creation.

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"Wait..." Balthazar raised a hand to stop Sophia, who had begun to make her way to the doors in order to open them.

"It could be Dean and the others... they might be hurt!" She exclaimed, but remained where she was, her hand still in his grasp.

"That's not likely," Aurora started to say, "They should have just reached there by now. Its too soon for them to be back already."

"Okay, well can I go and take a look and see who's at the door before opening it? I know there's a chance it could be a demon." Sophia said as she looked once at Balthazar, who let go of her hand.

"Be careful." Jo hoped that there were no demons waiting out there for them, they had already dealt with too many.

With quick steps, Sophia had crossed over to the doors. Luckily the knocking had stopped; taking a peek, she breathed a sigh of relief and began to open one of the doors.

"Don't worry, its only my students." She told the others.

"Wait!" Aurora cried out, "My contacts. I don't know where I kept them. No one can see my eyes like this." She exclaimed as she spun around, trying to find a spare pair of lenses.

The door was open by then and Aurora could hear Sophia greeting her students and ushering them inside; everyone else had dropped down onto the sofa's and chairs, pretending that they were busy in their conversation.

"I have a pair of lenses with me." Hannah whispered to Aurora, who was keeping an eye on the new arrivals, noticing that they were making their way to the others.

In a swift motion, Hannah quietly slipped out the lens box and handed it over to Aurora, just as she took it, Aurora looked up at her friend about to thank her for the quick save when she saw something that nearly made her scream. Standing in front of her was Hannah, but for a flicker of a second when the other girl had locked gazes with the angel, Aurora had seen the one thing that she always dreaded – a set of purely black eyes looked back at her and winked.

"_No, no no no! This can't be happening. Oh my god! Hannah!"_ Aurora was nearly on the verge of screaming out loud to alert everyone but she somehow managed to stay focused.

"Sshh... not a word Aurora... or else I'll have to kill these two young and innocent children." It was the words that left Hannah's mouth that confirmed Aurora's fears even though she hoped to be wrong.

Aurora simply nodded and seated herself next to Jo who was talking to Sophia and her students, but her mind wasn't paying attention to what was being said.

"_Hannah... Hannah's a demon."_The thought finally formed and it sent a chill down her spine. _"No. She's being possessed by a demon. The real Hannah is still in there. All I have to do is exorcise the bitch and send her back to Hell."_

"And these are my colleagues, Sebastian and Ashley." Sophia's polite teacher-like voice broke Aurora's thoughts and she forced herself to stay in the present.

"We're terribly sorry to have suddenly come over Ms. Sara," One of the students, a young boy of about 18 or 19 spoke up, "Its just that Becky and I were working on your assignment and we had a few questions to ask you, I tried calling but the line was dead."

"Yes, the electricity just went a few minutes ago." Sophia hadn't noticed the change in Aurora because she was trying to explain her guests to the two students. "And I have told you before Ryan, that its not an inconvenience to me if you or Rebecca drop in at any time. In fact, each and every student of mine is welcome here, it seems to be a coincidence that today morning, Sebastian and Ashley came to visit me with their students as well." Sophia was very good at coming up with a story that was believable by everyone.

Aurora began to tune Sophia and her students out once again as her mind went back to Hannah, she saw that the demon was sitting opposite her and was watching every move. There had to be a way to get the students out of the house as soon as she could and tell everyone that they had work to do. Suddenly, an idea came to Aurora; she remembered that Hannah had been asking her an unusual amount of questions relating to Angels and the powers they possessed barely an hour ago and while she had replied to almost every one of them, the ability of telepathically communicating with other angels didn't get mentioned. With any luck, the demon possessing Hannah was unaware of this power and Aurora would be able to use it to her advantage.

"_Balthazar!"_ Aurora kept her eyes on Chuck who was talking to Hannah about some of the fighting techniques he had heard of but opened her mind to her brother.

"_Aurora? What is it? You're worried about something. What's wrong?" _Balthazar nearly turned his head to look at her, but noticing that Aurora was talking only to him and not Sophia made him realize something was very wrong and so he resumed his conversation with Jo.

"_Its Hannah... Balthazar... she... she's possessed by a demon!" _Aurora's panic crossed over to him mentally and he felt the surge of emotions that she was going through at that moment. _"I don't know how or why... but I saw it... I saw her eyes, they were black and she threatened to kill the Ryan and Rebecca if I said anything to anyone about it. But I can't just sit here and do nothing Balthazar! Hannah's still in there... we have to get rid of the demon." _Aurora didn't realize when she had begun rambling nervously to Balthazar, her thoughts and feelings were in complete chaos.

"_Aurora, listen to me."_Balthazar tried to get through to her, thinking that he could calm her down.

"_Why would it not do anything until now? Why would she suddenly reveal herself? I'm so stupid, I should have realized that Lucifer wasn't letting her go so easily..."_

"_Aurora! I'm right here."_Once more, he attempted to stop Aurora from blurting anything out loud, she was too scared and unable to think clearly.

"_And Hannah's behavior and reactions seemed to be too normal for her, everything we told her, she just accepted without question. God! How did I not see this? We need to help her now..."_ She wasn't able to control herself for much longer. Her entire body was tensed up.

"Aurora!" Balthazar put in a little more force to his tone and when he noticed Aurora finally relax into the sofa behind her, he softened and continued, _"Mei-mei, I heard everything you said and I know that you are really worried about your friend right now. Since there's a demon inside her, we need to exorcise it before it causes any damage to us. We don't have much time to sit and interrogate her for answers. But I need you to calm your mind. Can you do that for me Aurora? Just be patient and do not say a word about this to Sophia just yet. I'll handle everything."_ Balthazar was speaking in a soothing voice and over Jo's shoulder, he could see that it was working.

"_No. Don't do anything. She'll know something is wrong and she might even figure out that we're talking to each other right now. There's another way to go about this... we have to draw her away from here and take her down to the basement, Sophia has a holding cell there with the Devil's Trap."_Aurora felt the pain in her chest rising as she realized what she was planning to do. But to save Hannah, she'd have to do everything that could be done.

"_If you don't want me to get her there then how do you expect us to move her away from the others?"_Balthazar had a feeling he knew what Aurora was going to say next.

"_I'm going to talk to Jo."_Aurora replied and before Balthazar could interrupt her she went on, _"I know its a little dangerous because she's unprepared but you have to keep her calm okay?" _

Balthazar didn't say anything but gave a tiny nod, which to everyone else seemed as if he was busy discussing something with Jo. Sophia and her students were working on the assignment and Chuck was unknowingly keeping Hannah distracted. Without closing her eyes, in order to avoid any questions, Aurora began to open her mind to Jo and when she felt the connection between their minds, she tried her level best not to scare Jo. Angels very rarely attempted to telepathically talk with humans but this was one of those rare situations.

"_Jo." _Aurora hoped that she could be heard. _"Jo, its Aurora. Don't be scared. Just listen to me, I'm talking to you through our minds because we have an emergency right now and I can't speak out loud."_

All this time, Jo had felt a little light headed but when she heard Aurora's voice in inside her head, she couldn't help but letting out a loud gasp.

"What is it Jo? Are you alright?" Chuck asked, looking at her concernedly for he saw her eyes widen suddenly.

"_Just say Balthazar was telling you a scary incident. Please. Trust me Jo, its safer this way. I'm using telepathy to talk to you."_ Aurora was trying to take this as slowly as she could.

"You seem scared." Hannah commented, but luckily hadn't noticed anything different in either Jo or Aurora.

"I'm fine. Balthazar's being funny... trying to scare me with his 'ghost' stories." It was a good thing that Jo hadn't faltered once while speaking.

Since Balthazar was sitting right next to Jo, it was easy for him to slip his hand into hers without anyone noticing and meeting her nervous eyes, he just gave her a tiny nod to assure her that Aurora really was talking to her mentally.

"_Jo, if you're up to this only then reply. Otherwise I can break the connection. Don't be scared. You just have to speak with your mind."_ Aurora waited patiently for a few seconds.

"_Aurora? Can you... hear me?" _Jo's voice sounded a little shaky, but otherwise was a lot better now.

"_Yes I can. Are you okay with this?" _Aurora knew that this was something uncommon but necessary.

"_Yeah... sorry about just now, I was a little surprised to hear your voice in my head." _Jo seemed calmer now.

"_A lot of people tend to go mad within minutes of an angel using telepathy with them. I'd say that you're doing a good job at staying calm."_ The angel reassured Jo that she was not going mad.

"_You did say this was an emergency. And besides, I know about angels and their abilities, Cas explained it all to us last year. So I think I'm okay now..."_ Jo explained, thinking that it was a good thing she had listened to Castiel.

"_There's one more thing I need you to do before I tell you what our problem is. No matter what you hear, do not remove your gaze from Balthazar, just nod as he talks to you. He knows you're talking to me right now." _It was important that Jo did not show any signs of reaction that Hannah could pick up.

"_Alright. So what's this emergency that made you use telepathy instead of just going in a corner to talk about it if you don't want Sophia's students to hear us?"_ Jo asked Aurora.

"_There's a demon possessing Hannah right now. Don't look at her! Stay focused on Balthazar, please. We cannot afford to let her know anything."_ Aurora noticed a split second when Jo nearly made a move to leave Balthazar's gaze.

"_Are you... you're not serious are you?" _Jo was a little scared now.

At this, Balthazar gently squeezed her hand, he may not have been listening to the two of them talking, but he knew that Aurora had told Jo about the demon because he had to tug on her hand to stop her from spinning around to face Hannah.

"_I think that Lucifer must have done this when he kidnapped her. No one thought to check Hannah when we got her back from Detroit and she's been possessed ever since then." _Aurora said, clearly sounding like she blamed herself.

"_Okay, that's a little disturbing. Hannah's been a demon all this time and it hasn't done anything until now? What do we do about it?"_ Jo jumped to the first conclusion that Aurora and Balthazar had reached.

"_We'll need you to take Hannah into the library in a few moments with some excuse, its the only room that has a second door at the back which leads to the basement. Just knock her out quickly and __Balthazar will take her to the holding cell. The demon needs to be exorcised as soon as we can manage to get ryan and rebecca far away." _Aurora explained.

"_Alright, leave Hannah to me. I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt too badly." _Jo knew that she could do this.

With that, Jo felt her dizziness start to fade as Aurora broke the connection. She sat quietly for a few seconds just listening to everyone talking around her and tried to think of a good way to get Hannah alone. Just then, she overheard Sophia mention the name Plato to Ryan and Rebecca and Jo sat up straight, alert and listening to the discussion.

"I think that if you include a paragraph or two about a comparison between Plato and Aristotle then it would add weight to the assignments... does the university library have a copy of The Republic? Its one book that even if not read in entirety needs to be looked at once in order to get an idea of Plato's theories." Sophia explained.

"I don't think we have a copy of his book in the library, there's a lot of books by Aristotle though." Rebecca answered, "That's also part of the reason why we came to meet you; we thought that you might have an edition of The Republic."

"Ah I see... well I'm not too sure..." Sophia started to say, but stopped when she saw Jo stand up and walk over to where she and her students were seated.

"Luckily I happen to have the book you're looking for. Its somewhere in your library Ms. Sara, I could go and get it for you." Jo knew it was a long shot but this was the easiest and quickest way for her plan to work.

Sophia looked a little surprised and glanced up at Jo who seemed to be smiling a little, and for the first time in the past fifteen minutes or so, turned to face Balthazar and Aurora. All it took was one split second of meeting their eyes and she realized that there was a problem.

"That'll be really nice Jo." Sophia replied, knowing that she had to figure out a way to get Ryan and Rebecca to leave without raising anyone's suspicion.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Jo started to make her way towards the library but halted just as she passed the others and looked over at Hannah, or rather the demon who was possessing her. "Hannah? Could you come and help me find the book?" She hoped her voice sounded sweet and polite enough.

"Book?" Hannah was a little puzzled, she hadn't heard anything about a book until now.

"Yes. The book that Sophia needs for her students, The Republic by Plato? Remember one of us had a copy of it and we left it in Sophia's library." Jo gestured towards the library, hoping that Hannah would play along and follow her.

"Oh. Yes, of course, I think it was my copy." Hannah said, catching on to the 'story' that Jo had come up with.

She excused herself and headed over to where Jo was standing and together the two of them walked out of the hall and to the library. Once they were inside and confident that no one could hear a word, Hannah began to search for the book in one of the shelves.

"Do you think that Sophia has a copy of this book we're looking for?" She called out to Jo, who was searching another shelf.

"I hope so. We can't really tell her students who we are so for the time being the two of us are Philosophy graduates." Jo knew she shouldn't waste time talking, but a minute more wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Hmm... never really understood the whole concept of Philosophy." Hannah mused as she continued reading the names of the titles on the shelf.

"I know what you mean." Jo felt a little nervous about what she planned to do; there was no certainty that Hannah was indeed a demon, save for Aurora's word and that could not have been more certain than splashing Holy Water in Hannah's face just then.

"No sign of the book over here, have you had any luck Jo?" Hannah was about to turn around when she suddenly felt a shadow behind her.

"I'm really sorry about this Hannah." With a quick and not too painful, but still effective punch, Jo had Hannah knocked out in a matter of seconds.

For about a minute, the young hunter stood where she was, staring at the limp form of someone she considered a friend lying on the floor wondering if she had done the right thing. Jo knew her mind would be at peace only when she proved that Hannah was really being possessed by a demon and so from her pocket came out a tiny vial of Holy Water.

"Here goes nothing." She whispered softly under her breath and poured a few drops onto Hannah's hand which immediately began to burn.

A knock on the library door startled Jo and she scrambled to hide Hannah, but there was no time. Fortunately for her, the voice that spoke from the other side of the door relieved her panic.

"Jo? Its me Balthazar, I'm alone." His voice was a little muffled, but Jo knew that it was safe.

She quickly crossed over to the entrance and opened the door just enough for Balthazar to slip inside before she closed it again.

"Did you?" Balthazar asked her, his face looking grim and serious.

"Yea, over there." Jo pointed to where Hannah lay unconscious and the burn on her arm which was still smoking a little was visible.

"Don't worry, we're going to finish this as soon as we can. I'll get her downstairs to the basement, you just make sure Sophia sends her students away before you all come." Balthazar had already walked over to Hannah and picked her up gently.

"But what about that book?" Jo knew if she left the library without it, Sophia would have a hard time trying to get Ryan and Rebecca to leave quickly.

"Its right there on her desk. Aurora already informed her of our situation at hand and apparently that's when Sophia remembered that she had the book you're looking for in plain sight. Take it and hurry back okay?" With that, Balthazar went through the door that led to the basement, carrying Hannah who was still unconscious.

In a matter of seconds, Jo had found the book and rushing out of the library made her way back to the hall where she found Aurora and Chuck talking in hushed tones while Sophia was giving her students a polite goodbye.

"Ryan, you and Rebecca can take turns in using the book for a day each. Meet me in class day after tomorrow and you can give me your inputs then." Sophia told them, "Ah, thank you Jo." Taking the book from Jo, Sophia handed it over to Ryan.

Within minutes, the two students had left after thanking Sophia and promising to return the book in two days time. As soon as the door closed shut, Aurora spun around and faced Jo who only nodded, there was no need to say anything. The four of them knew that they had little time to spare and so immediately headed down to the basement where a dark and solemn sight greeted them.

In the center of the basement was a steel cell with bars all around that gave it a prison look; Balthazar was standing inside, watching Hannah carefully. The demon who had possessed her was starting to gain consciousness and in a few seconds would realize that she was bound to a chair and trapped underneath a pentagram which stopped her from using her powers.

"Is this going to work?" Chuck asked nervously, he had been shocked when Aurora told him what had happened and since he didn't have an experience with exorcising demons, he was a little worried.

"Yes. All we need is the ritual." Jo whispered to the Prophet and even as she spoke, she saw Sophia hand a leather bound book over to Aurora.

Chuck, Jo and Sophia were the only ones who stayed outside of the cell while Aurora went in and stood in front of Hannah while Balthazar remained close by, holding a bottle of Holy Water in his hand just in case. Not a minute later, Hannah's eyes began to flutter open and in less than ten seconds, she had figured out what was going on. Immediately, the demon took over and her eyes changed from light brown to pitch black and a smirk appeared on her face.

"Well well well... this is interesting. I'm surprised you all guessed who I really am." The demon's voice was heavier than Hannah's tone but she still sounded and looked like Hannah. "How ever did you manage to tell Jo about me Aurora?" She looked up at the angel who was trying not to get angry.

"I have my ways." Aurora replied coldly. "Now that I have you trapped, I'm sending you back to the pit where you came from. You had no right to take control of Hannah!"

The demon smiled brightly when she heard Aurora speak. "Ah... but you see Aurora, I did not have a choice in the matter, after all, who is foolish enough to disobey orders from the Devil himself?"

"Lucifer summoned you into Hannah?" Aurora faltered, she didn't want to know any answers, all she wanted was to get rid of the demon and have Hannah back with her.

"Of course he did. How else would I be here? This is no random occurrence Aurora, I was sent here to deliver a message."

"Really? That's it... you're here to tell us Lucifer's big plans for the Apocalypse and do nothing else?" Balthazar couldn't stop himself from speaking up.

"Yes. For now at least. I think this is phase one of his plan for you." This was directed to Aurora.

"Stop it!" Aurora hadn't told the others about Lucifer wanting her to surrender to him and becoming his slave.

Instead of giving Balthazar or anyone else a chance to speak, Aurora opened the book and began to recite the ritual that would banish the demon from Hannah without harming her any further.

"_Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio_, _infernalis adversarii, omnis legio,_ _omnis congregatio et secta diabolica." _She paused for a second when she noticed that the spell was working and the demon inside of Hannah began to struggle through the bonds, trying to break free.

"Curse you angels!" She sneered, "You cannot defeat the Devil! There is no way to kill him without the rings!"

"_Ergo draco maledicte_, _et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te,_" Aurora was almost done with the ritual and she could see the demon's essence rising up Hannah's throat as she began to cough black smoke.

The demon was not very strong but it wouldn't give up so quickly either. "Lucifer will see to it that you become his angel of darkness Aurora... the world is about to end and no one but you can stop it!" An evil laugh escaped her one last time.

"C_essa decipere humanas creaturas,eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare!_" Aurora finished the ritual and stepped back, slamming into the bars of the cell as the demon was finally exorcised from Hannah when its black essence crashed through the ceiling and vanished.

Without thinking about what the demon had said, Aurora rushed over to where her friend sat and began to remove the binds around her hands and legs but she found that all of her fingers were trembling; she was glad when she felt a pair of warm hands touch her own as Balthazar knelt down to help her. Sophia, Jo and Chuck were also there but Aurora wasn't saying anything.

"Can you... can you take her upstairs?" Aurora asked Balthazar when he was done freeing Hannah from the chair.

Aurora noticed that Hannah was barely conscious, but her eyes were starting to open. It wasn't the right time for them to talk about what had just happened and so before letting her open her eyes fully, Aurora spoke a few words in Enochian and let Hannah drift off into a dreamless sleep. She stepped aside as Balthazar carried her in his arms once more and headed upstairs out of the basement and towards her room on the first floor while she followed the others to the den knowing that she would have to talk to them soon. Barely five minutes had passed with Sophia, Aurora, Chuck and Jo sitting down in separate seats, no one saying a word, did Balthazar return and without any hesitance, he broke the silence.

"We need to talk _mei-mei._"

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**That was a surprising twist! A little too intense? Your thoughts on it would be appreciated! ^_^**


	60. Chapter 59

Wow! A lot of reviews for the last chapter! No more intense stuff just yet, but still thank you everyone for sticking around even after that!

**To: valeskathesilverwolf, joyceeluna, stupid lamb wannabe, minaghostwolf **and to my 2 new readers, **franz musni **and** sara1988**, thanks a lot for your reviews! ^_^

**Disclaimer:** Keeping all the dead characters alive in my story is my idea! Lolz!

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"_We need to talk mei-mei."_

Aurora looked up at him and nodded her head in response, not knowing how to begin explaining everything. Balthazar crossed over to where she was sitting and taking his place next to her, he gently grasped both her hands in his, forgetting that Sophia and the others were watching Aurora and waiting for her to speak.

"_Mei-mei_, what did that demon mean when she said you will become Lucifer's angel of darkness?" Balthazar was soft in his questioning, but he was worried for his sister. "Did something happen in Detroit? Were you threatened?" He asked Aurora, trying to search for the answer in her eyes.

"He... he said... he said that if I surrendered myself over to him then he would spare the lives of everyone I cared about... but he wouldn't stop the Apocalypse. He... he wants to use my powers to help him take control of Heaven." Even as she spoke, Aurora could not hide her anger for the Devil, she could feel it rising inside her.

It was a good thing that Aurora had been bonded to Balthazar and Sophia before she had 'died' in Heaven, and luckily their bond was as strong as ever; it helped because now, Balthazar could sense her emotions raging beneath the surface and knew he had to find a way to calm her down.

"Son of a bitch!" Jo exclaimed loudly, "I remember the way he was talking to Aurora... saying that he wasn't going to kill her and once she submitted to him, he would make sure we all stayed alive and away from them." The young hunter was also very upset.

"Jo..." Balthazar knew it would be easier to calm her down, "We're not going to let anything happen to Aura... she'll be the one to kill Lucifer and send him back into the pits of Hell. Right sis?" He turned back to face Aurora who was looking a little worried.

"I will kill Lucifer even its the last thing I have to do." Aurora replied softly and in a calm voice. "I just... I'm worried about Hannah... I didn't realize that she could have been hurt or worse when I took her from there... and now..." She fell silent at that.

"Don't worry Aurora, I'm sure Hannah will be fine. Do you want me to go and check on her?" Sophia broke her silence as she turned to face her sister.

"I'll come with you." Jo added, jumping up after catching Balthazar's eye and understanding that he needed time with Aurora.

"I think I'll head outside for a little bit." Chuck said finally speaking up; he had been sitting quietly and listening to Balthazar and Aurora converse all this time.

"Are you okay Chuck?" Aurora suddenly asked him. The Prophet was starting to massage his forehead with his knuckles.

"Yea... I'm fine. I think... oh great, I have a vision coming..." Chuck frowned and then decided it was best he went to the library to lie down until it passed.

As soon as Sophia, Chuck and Jo had left, Aurora sat back down next to Balthazar who wasn't surprised when she lay back into his arms and sighed softly as he wrapped his arms around her. Balthazar knew that there was a lot of things going through her mind, but instead of asking her anything, he was going to wait until she spoke first. Till then, the two of them sat quietly together.

"I'm scared Balthazar." Were the first words that left Aurora's lips, "Not of fighting... but of losing everyone if... if I can't..." She faltered again and shivered slightly as she heard Lucifer's voice echoing in her head again.

"Hush _mei-mei_, don't think about that. No one is powerful enough to force you into surrendering yourself." Balthazar reminded her as he tightened his arms around her waist. "And you are the best fighter in all of Heaven, so if there is anyone who can defeat Lucifer, its you."

"Do you really think that?" Aurora didn't know why she was suddenly questioning herself and her strength.

"No, I believe it. You have great power _mei-mei, _but more importantly you have people who care about you, people who love you so much that they would give their lives to save you."

Aurora didn't turn around, instead she settled for lightly slapping Balthazar's arm that held her.

"Didn't I say that no one is going to do that for me. Not even you Balthazar." Aurora knew that between her brother and her lover, Balthazar was more stubborn than Castiel.

"Alright, not even me. But I'm going to be there with you Aura... with Cas and Dean, you'll never be alone again."

"I know that." Aurora was never doubtful of the fact.

Another moment of silence passed between them before Balthazar finally decided that he had to ask Aurora something very important.

"Aura, have you told Cas about this?" He knew the answer to this question, but was waiting for her response before continuing.

"Yes. I told him the night you left with Sam and Dean to meet Chuck." Aurora answered him.

"And... have you told them?" Balthazar knew that this was something that Aurora should have told him herself, but since she hadn't, he had to know.

"If you're talking about Dean and Sam..." Aurora said and then paused for a long moment, "Then... no. I haven't told them yet." She told Balthazar softly.

Instead of saying anything, Balthazar simply rested his chin on top of Aurora's head and closed his eyes, wondering how his sister had gotten dragged into this bloodshed, she had already died once and the pain of losing her never truly left him, nor had it ever left Castiel. It was the one thing that both the angels had promised never to tell Aurora; for if she knew that they were not completely healed, there was a strong possibility that things could get complicated. The only thing that Balthazar truly wished for was for her to win this fight and not just stop the Apocalypse but come out of it alive.

"I think Dean and Sam should know about this _mei-mei._" Balthazar suggested to her once he had gotten rid of the melancholic thoughts that plagued his mind.

"They're going to be mad at me." Aurora stated, "I may have not grown up with my brothers but we are siblings and I do know that if I tell them this, both of them are going to start planning ways to stop me from fighting." She knew this much was definitely true.

"Hmm... I know you Aurora and I know that even though you didn't like my idea, you can still send the Winchester's to a desert." Aurora felt Balthazar's laugh behind her and she frowned, knowing he couldn't see her.

"Balthazar..." Aurora started to say, realizing that she would have to tell him about Chuck's vision before she got a chance to speak to Castiel.

On hearing her voice change suddenly, Balthazar stiffened. He realized that this was not the only thing that Aurora had to tell him. Sitting up slowly, Balthazar placed his hands on Aurora and turned her around to face him, but she would not meet his eyes.

"Hey..." Balthazar's voice was soft but worrisome, "Aurora... what is it?" Concerned for his sister filled his eyes.

"I didn't tell anyone about this because I thought I would talk to Cas about it... but I know that if I don't tell you then you won't let me live in peace." Aurora tried to lighten the mood but knew it was pointless.

"There's something else isn't there?" Balthazar raised an eyebrow questioningly at Aurora, wondering when she had gotten so good at hiding her emotions from him.

"Yes. But you have to promise me not to tell Sam or Dean." She was determined not to let them find out about this. "No, don't promise me... take a swear on our bond." Aurora knew she was taking a big risk asking for this, but it was one way to stop Dean and Sam from trying to take her place in the fight against Lucifer.

"What?" Balthazar's eyes widened as he heard Aurora's request. An angel never took an oath on their bond unless it was imperative. "_Mei-mei_, you can't be serious! Look, I promise you that I won't repeat a word to anyone else, but don't use our bond for this!" He was truly surprised and had reason enough to be.

Balthazar's hesitance was justified because he knew well enough that an angel was allowed to use the bond to make an oath, but only once. Aurora luckily had to angels bonded with her and she had already used up one chance when she had asked Sophia to take the oath to hide her existence from everyone they knew. But this, this could not be as big and Balthazar knew he was not about to listen to Aurora.

"Please, Balthazar, I need this." Aurora raised her eyes to meet his but stopped herself when she saw the look on his face.

"No you don't Aurora..." Balthazar wasn't angry, he knew that ever since she found out that Hannah had been possessed by a demon, Aurora was slightly shaken. "Listen to me, I know you're scared right now and you have every right to be... the fate of the whole world rests on your shoulders literally and no matter how strong you are, you are not alone in this. You have _two_ families who are going to stand by you no matter what." He had taken her hands in his now, "And as for keeping secrets, did you really forget where you learned that?" Balthazar couldn't help grin when he noticed a shadow of a smile falling across Aurora's lips.

"You're right. I'm sorry Balthazar..." Aurora sighed as she closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts, trying to focus on Castiel, he was the one person who could keep her stable all the time. "Its because of what happened to Hannah that's gotten me a little unnerved, I guess I lost myself for a little while." She confessed.

"That's why I'm here... filling in for Cas, as I always will." Balthazar smiled now that he knew Aurora was going to be fine.

"No, never filling for Cas... you're my brother Balthazar and even though Cas is my soul-mate... you have a place in my heart that only you can fill." Aurora didn't realize when her cheeks suddenly grew moist.

"And you have a place in my heart that Sophia cannot fill as well. I guess that's why its called a bond between two angels who are meant to be like siblings." Balthazar said softly as he pulled Aurora in for a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you Balthazar... for everything." Aurora whispered.

"Don't thank me just yet my dear... first you have to tell me what this big news is of yours."

But before Aurora or Balthazar could say anything further, there was a knock on the door to the den and Jo and Sophia peeked inside, both hastily trying to leave when they saw that the two angels were having a brother-sister moment, but Aurora stopped the two of them.

"Sophia? Is everything alright? You seem a little worried about something." Aurora asked her friend.

"Uh... oh... umm... well we didn't mean to interrupt or anything." Jo mumbled an apology but Aurora wouldn't hear of it.

"No, its fine. We were coming to find you... is it... Hannah?" Unknowingly, Aurora gripped Balthazar's hand in hers and hoped that nothing was wrong and that Hannah was still under her spell.

"Hannah's doing alright, no need to worry. She's fast asleep... and she looks peaceful too." Sophia reassured Aurora. "We actually came to call the two of you because Chuck wants to talk to us all."

"Let's go and see what he wants then." Balthazar offered his arm to Aurora who took it with a bright smile spreading across her face.

Together, Balthazar, Aurora, Sophia and Jo made their way to the library where Chuck waited for them. As soon as they all stepped inside the room, there was a unanimous clicking noise throughout the house as the electricity came back on.

"Ah! That is a relief." Sophia exclaimed as the entire library was lit up.

It was a good sight to see that unlike his last vision which had led the Prophet to resume heavy drinking, this time the only drink Chuck held in his hand was a bottle of club soda. When he saw the three angels, he immediately ceased his incessant walk all over the library and settled down onto a sofa.

"Good, good... you're all here... good." Chuck definitely appeared nervous about what he had to say and seemed to be trying to find a way to delay it for as long as he could.

"Chuck, you had another vision didn't you?" Aurora's soothing voice seemed to reach all throughout the room for within seconds of hearing her speak, the Prophet found himself calmer than he initially was.

"I did... yes... about the final fight..." Chuck nodded his head as he took a sip of soda to calm his nerves.

"What did you see? Is there anything that can help us?" Balthazar hoped for a vision which would show a way for Aurora to defeat Lucifer.

"Not exactly... no... apart from just seeing flashes of everyone and... and Lucifer... I only managed to learn two things, important yes but I don't think its going to help in defeating the Devil." Chuck seemed to be a little relaxed now and emptying the soda bottle he set it down on the table.

"What are these two important things Chuck?" Sophia asked him, speaking for herself and the others.

"First is the place. According to what I saw, the final fight is going to take place in Stull Cemetery in Lawrence. And secondly, it is happening on Monday."

It took less than a moment for the four listeners to process what they had just heard from Chuck and their reactions were not too surprising.

"Stull Cemetery is about 40 miles outside of Lawrence... where John and Mary lived once. Where Dean, Sam and I were born." Aurora mused.

"3 days from now is monday. Are you saying we have only three days left till the world ends?" Balthazar exclaimed but didn't appear shocked.

"It would appear so." Sophia replied to Balthazar's question softly, loud enough for only him to hear.

"I guess its our last weekend then." Jo commented, "It is Friday afternoon already, we have time to prepare ourselves." She stated, _physically and emotionally_ she added in her mind.

"Yes. I think we have enough time to get ready for the last confrontation." Chuck said and he too added in his mind, _either to win or die trying._

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**Short update, sorry about that! But don't worry, next chapter is up tomorrow itself with Dean and the others trying to stop the Croatoan breakout! Reviews? ^_^**


	61. Chapter 60

I know that even though there's only one review, the new chapter is still going to be posted because that is what I promised, so here you are! And thank you **valeskathesilverwolf** for reviewing! ^_^

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As Aurora and the others were dealing with the news of Chuck's latest vision, Castiel, Dean, Sam, Ellen and Bobby were on their way to Niveus Pharmaceuticals in the hopes of stopping an epidemic outbreak of the Croatoan virus. It was late afternoon when the van that Dean had 'borrowed' finally reached its destination, the company's main complex where a cluster of warehouses were scattered throughout. Bobby, who had been driving the van parked it across the entrance and reaching for a pair of binoculars surveyed the area.

"Okay, we've got about a dozen yellow trucks being loaded up with Croatoan in them." He observed and then turned to face Sam, "How much time we got?" Bobby asked him.

"According to the manifest, we have an hour till the first truck leaves." Sam replied as he checked his laptop; hacking into the mainframe was easy.

"Alright, so we go in and plant the C4 inside the warehouse before getting out and blowing the place up... one at every 25 feet should do the trick." Dean said as he got his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Wait." Ellen suddenly exclaimed as she reached over from the passenger seat and grabbed the binoculars from Bobby's hands. "We have a problem boys... I see a truck that's getting ready to leave, they're locking her up." She pointed to one of the yellow trucks and grabbed her rifle.

"We have to stop that truck from leaving." Castiel's voice was calm but the urgency in his tone was clear.

Even though Ellen was supposed to stay and guard the van, she decided not to listen to Dean this time. He quickly came up with a new plan and within seconds left to spare, the five of them had left their van and made their way across to the gates from where they saw the yellow truck heading out, less than thirty feet away from leaving.

Sam signaled Castiel who was already inside the gates, having teleported in stealthily. As soon as he saw the driver of the van reach out and swipe his card to open the gates, the angel grabbed a hold of the man's arm and swiftly put him to sleep by placing two fingers on his forehead. Just before the driver's head fell on the steering wheel, Castiel had pushed him aside and using his angel sword, he jabbed the locking device and it burst apart, halting the moving gates with plenty of space for Dean and the others to enter.

"They know we're here!" Castiel called out to Dean and Sam who were closer to him. "I saw a demon in the first warehouse, he's locked it down completely."

"The virus! They're going to release it in there!" Sam exclaimed as he and Dean made their way across the parking area with Castiel by their side, Ellen and Bobby were behind, keeping an eye out for an activity.

"Well let's stop things before they get even worse than they already are." Dean grumbled as he loaded his gun, remembering the only way to kill an infected person.

As soon as the five of them had regrouped, they found themselves another entrance to the warehouse; there were loud voices coming from the other side of the door.

"Get back!" Sam yelled out to the people trapped inside before taking aim and shooting the lock of the door. Kicking it open, half a dozen workers ran outside screaming incoherently.

"Ellen, I need you to stay here and stand guard. We'll send any survivors this way, make sure they all get out safely okay?" Dean told Ellen before adding, "And stay safe."

Quickly without making a noise, he followed Sam, Bobby and Castiel inside the warehouse that was filled with a lot of screaming and squelching sounds. Dropping their bags to the floor, Sam silently indicated to Bobby to follow him on one side of the room while Dean and Castiel were to search the other side. They split up, guns loaded and aimed to shoot.

"This way." Castiel whispered to Dean, they were close to the squelching noise that was now accompanied by someone crying out in pain.

Nodding to the angel, Dean and Castiel made their way behind a tall stack of crates and within seconds had found the source of the noise; a group of eight workers were feeding off two helpless employees. Without hesitating, Dean started firing and as soon as the first Croat, the others left their food and came rushing towards them. In a matter of seconds, Dean had emptied his round into four other monsters but just as soon as he finished loading another round, he felt his back slam against the wall as one of the monsters tried to choke him. Before he could do anything, Dean saw Castiel place his hand on the monster's head and he closed his eyes from the blinding light as the angel killed it. Within seconds, Castiel had gotten rid of the other two infected workers by smiting them.

"Thanks Cas." Dean whispered as he came up to the angel. Another scream alerted them both and they hastily ran across the warehouse towards the sound.

But when they got there, the two of them saw that Sam had already taken care of the single Croat that had been trying to kill a young lady. Helping her down from the ladder, Sam made his way back to Bobby who took her to the exit where Ellen helped her out safely. Now that they had regrouped, the four of them decided to stay together. Just then, another group of infected workers came their way and in less than six shots and one smiting, they were all dead.

"That all of them?" Bobby asked gruffly as he holstered his gun.

In reply, Bobby saw Dean raise his rifle and point it at his head; knowing what he had to do, the older hunter ducked the second Dean fired and hit the Croat that was behind Bobby straight in the head.

"Idjit." Bobby grunted as he stood back up.

"You're welcome." Dean said as he tried to hide his grin.

A hasty round of the warehouse led the group to find a dozen scared but unharmed civilians who were all crouched behind a stack of boxes. As soon as the last one was safe, Bobby began to head out as well when he suddenly heard Dean shout out loudly.

"Sammy! Behind you!" But it was too late, the last Croat jumped onto Sam's back and tackled the gun away from him.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed as he tried to shoot the monster, but he was out of rounds.

The monster was starting to choke Sam who was barely able to breathe. Closing his eyes, he tried to fight the Croat off him but it was too strong. Just then, a loud shot rang across the room and Sam opened his eyes just in time to see the monster's head explode.

"Hmm... looks like shooting a gun is not a bad thing after all." Castiel commented as he handed the gun Bobby had given him to hold back to the hunter who was watching him in surprise.

"You shot him?" It sounded unbelievable coming from Dean's mouth who held out a hand for Sam to take.

"Yes. There was no time to get close enough to smite the monster so I shot him instead." Castiel replied calmly.

"If we're done with the chit-chatting, can we commit our act of domestic terrorism already?" Bobby said impatiently, "Let's go!" He ordered the three of them to get to work.

In another five minutes, the four men had emptied their stock of C4 and headed back to where Ellen was waiting for them. It was a good thing that they had left the remote control to the explosives with her and as soon as they were well out of range back in their van, she pressed the button and watched as the entire warehouse was engulfed in flames.

"C'mon, we'd better head back soon." Sam told Bobby who grunted before starting up the van and stepped on the gas.

The rest of the drive back passed by in silence. As soon as they reached a secluded plot of land behind a row of houses, Castiel teleported them back to Illinois to the car park where they had left the Impala and Bobby's truck. Ellen got in the passenger seat of the Chevy truck next to Bobby while Sam and Castiel followed Dean to the Impala. They were about half an hour away from Sophia's mansion when Sam's phone suddenly started to ring.

"Its Aurora." Sam said out loud to the other two before answering his sister's call. "Hey, is everything okay Aurora?" He asked her.

"_Yes, all is fine over here. Are you and the others on your way home yet?" _Aurora's voice could be heard from the other side of the line.

"Yeah, we should be home in another thirty minutes. Our work at the warehouses got done a lot sooner than we anticipated." Sam replied_._

"_That's good, I'm glad its over." _Oddly enough, Sam felt as if he could hear Aurora sighing as if all wasn't over.

"Aurora?" Sam's calm but concerned voice made Dean press the brakes as he halted the car in the middle of the road.

Castiel exchanged a look with Dean who was waiting for Sam to say something else, but his brother was quiet, listening to Aurora speak.

"She wants to talk to you Cas..." Sam said as he passed the phone behind to the angel before turning back to face Dean.

"Sammy, what is it?" Dean saw the look on his brother's face and knew something was very wrong.

"Chuck had a vision. We have three days left before Lucifer strikes; the final fight is on Monday at Stull Cemetery." Sam nearly sounded robotic just then.

"Stull Cemetery." Dean repeated, thinking the name sounded familiar. "You mean, that deserted graveyard just outside of Lawrence? Where we were born?" Dean vaguely remembered his past life living in Kansas, growing up with his parents until Sam was six months when their lives changed completely.

"It seems that way." Sam looked out of the window, not wanting to dwell on any old memories.

"But why there of all places?" Dean sounded incredulous as he started the car up and began driving home.

"Everything must end where it began." Castiel's voice suddenly spoke up from the back seat. He handed Sam his phone back, having ended his call with Aurora already.

"What did Aurora say?" Sam changed the topic, "Something happened while we were gone didn't it?" He knew that Aurora's voice didn't sound normal when he heard her talking to him.

"Yes. It appears that Lucifer planned to hurt Aurora in a very disgusting manner, he had a demon possess her friend, Hannah. They were able to exorcise it out of her and she is unharmed but Aurora is very disturbed now. We were all fooled." Castiel's voice was grave now, he had heard everything about what had happened with Hannah from Aurora and all he wanted to do was be with her as soon as possible.

"Don't worry Cas... we're gonna be home in a few minutes." Dean said to Castiel as he sped up.

Fortunately, it was just after sunset when they reached Sophia's house. They had not met with a lot of traffic and within minutes of pulling up into the driveway, Bobby and Ellen also reached.

Once they were all inside the house, everyone save for Hannah had assembled in the hall and sat quietly, allowing the news of Chuck's vision to sink in properly; there was less than three days left since this day was half over already. Dean and Jo were sitting together next to Sam while Aurora had placed her head on Castiel's shoulder while holding onto Balthazar's hand. Ellen and Sophia occupied the third sofa while Bobby had taken the armchair to himself. After several long minutes had passed without anyone saying a word, one of the group decided that it was time to end this silence.

"Guys... the world isn't gonna end in three days! We're going to stop the Apocalypse. So stop sitting around like we're already dead." Dean tried to lighten the somber mood that had settled over the hall.

"We know that Dean, but it is still a long shot." It was Aurora who spoke up surprisingly, "The rings are gone and as far as we know, there is no definite way to kill Lucifer or send him back into the cage." She told him.

"We'll find a way... that's what we always do. Look, we've trained and trained as much as we can in this past week or so, if you want we can give it another go tomorrow but let today be the way it is." Dean explained his idea to Aurora and the others.

"I guess you have a point Dean." Sam said, agreeing with his brother but didn't say anything after that; he had been unusually quiet on the way home especially after he had spoken to Aurora.

"Is Hannah alright now?" Castiel knew that Aurora was still worried about her friend and wanted to know if he could help her in any way.

"Yes, I went to check on her a few minutes before you reached, she's still asleep... but I'm worried Cas... she needs some sort of protection to prevent another demon from possessing her." Aurora confessed her fears to Castiel.

"She could get an anti-possession tattoo like Sammy and I have." Dean suggested.

"Or you could give her an amulet." Sam added, knowing that it was better for Hannah not to get a tattoo done. "Bobby has a spare one right?" Saying so, he looked to the older hunter.

"Its a good thing I have it with me here." Bobby said as he removed a pouch from inside his jacket vest and took out an amulet which he handed over to Aurora.

"Thank you." Aurora gently bowed her head a little as she took the necklace from Bobby.

Once she had the amulet in her hand, Aurora walked over to Sam and gave it to him, an idea forming in her mind.

"Sam, if you don't have a problem then I'd like it if you come with me when I go to talk to Hannah?" She knew that her idea was sure to work and if it did then not only would it help her friend but her brother as well.

"Uhh... sure, I don't mind." Sam didn't know why Aurora was taking him and not Dean but decided not to say anything about it.

"Wait a minute," Sophia suddenly broke in. "I need Sam for a few minutes... why don't you go and talk to Hannah first Aurora? I'll send him up soon."

Aurora nodded and swiftly headed upstairs to Hannah's room where she lay asleep. In the meantime, Sophia had requested everyone else to get some rest until it was time for dinner and thankfully, no one raised any objections to it. Soon, Dean was taking a nap in his room, Ellen and Jo sharing a room since Jo did not want to disturb Hannah, Chuck and Bobby also retired to their respective rooms while Balthazar and Castiel had decided to spend some time relaxing in the den. Sophia had taken Sam to the library for a few minutes, not to talk about anything important but rather to give Aurora a little time to deal with Hannah alone and that is precisely what she told him once they both were seated.

"I hope you didn't mind me suddenly asking you to come with me. Its just that I thought it best for Aurora to have a few minutes with Hannah alone before you went to talk to Hannah yourself." Sophia explained herself.

"No, its fine. I get why you didn't say it directly, Aurora didn't realize it at that time... I don't mind giving her as long as she needs... but I'm still confused as to why Aurora wants _me_ to talk to Hannah? I don't know her so well... or at least, I thought I knew her a little. But if the person I spoke to was a demon then..." Sam wasn't sure of how he could be helpful in this situation.

"She needs you to talk to Hannah because right now that girl is in a fragile state. She was kidnapped by the Devil and forcefully let a demon possess her, the poor girl has no idea where she has landed and Aurora believes that you can help her cope with this sudden change in her life." Sophia answered Sam's question and then continued, "You want to know why you were chosen specifically and not Dean or someone else? Its because you are aware of what it feels like to be possessed by a demon... Dean told me about that time. It was Meg who possessed you, wasn't it?" Sophia asked.

"Yes." Sam replied grimly as he closed his eyes trying not to remember the time, almost four years ago when Meg had taken over his body for a whole week. "But..."

"Don't worry Sam, there's nothing that you can do or say wrong. In fact, that is part of the reason why Aurora cannot do it herself. She is an angel and now that she knows who she is, its not that easy to express herself as a human like she used to before. I'm not saying that she cannot help Hannah through her healing process, but knowing that Aurora is an angel will have another strong reaction from Hannah and that is why she needs a human friend... you." The reason Sophia was so open with Sam was because Aurora had told her about the idea before Sam and the others had reached home.

"I think I understand now. At first I was confused because I thought that it would be better for Dean to talk to Hannah because they had met earlier... but Dean hasn't gone through what I have... I just hope I can help her." Sam was genuinely worried for this girl, partly because she was close to Aurora but also because he knew that there was someone who she could talk to about what she had been through.

"I know you will." Sophia finally smiled as she reached over and placed her hand on top of Sam's. "I'm glad that Aurora was born into your family Sam, she couldn't have asked for better brothers."

Suddenly embarrassed on hearing that coming from an archangel, Sam Winchester was at a loss of words for what seemed to be the first time. Instead, he just smiled back at Sophia.

"_Someone like Sophia deserves a second chance at happiness. I hope she gets to find love again." _Sam found himself thinking.

While Sophia was talking to Sam downstairs in the library, Aurora had made her way to Hannah's bedroom and for a moment she hesitated outside the door, thinking about what she was about to do, but knowing that it was necessary, the angel cleared her head of any second thoughts and slowly turned the knob and opening it, stepped inside the room. The sight that met her eyes was shocking and Aurora couldn't stop herself from gasping out loud in surprise.

"Oh god!" This was not what she had expected when she decided to come and talk to Hannah.

The room was empty. There was no sign of Hannah anywhere, she was not in the bathroom nor on the balcony outside. She was gone. Before she could stop herself, Aurora's mind had already formed the dreadful thought, "_Did Lucifer take her away from me again? Where are you Hannah!"_

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**Uh-oh! Cliffy! Sorry about that! Do I still get reviews? ^_^**


	62. Chapter 61

Wow! A lot of reviews for the last chapter! 5 of them! Yay! Thank You to my readers: **sara1988, valeskathesilverwolf, franz musni, joyceeluna and stupid lamb wannabe** for your lovely feedback! I hope you enjoy this chapter! ^_^

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"Don't panic, Hannah hasn't gone anywhere, she's still here in the house." Aurora told herself hoping to calm her nerves down. "There's no way Lucifer or his demons could have gotten inside. Hannah must have gone to get some fresh air."

Aurora knew that panicking would get her nowhere and even though she knew that she could call Castiel or Dean to help her find Hannah, Aurora felt that this was something that needed to be done alone. Leaning against the door, the angel closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, soothing her mind in seconds and allowing her to think clearly.

"There's only one place she could have gone." Aurora said out loud as she realized where she would find her friend.

Leaving the empty room quickly, Aurora tiptoed across the corridor past Dean's room where she saw him sleeping peacefully, before making her way towards the staircase leading to the upper floor, to the terrace. And sure enough, as soon as she set foot on the terrace, Aurora felt another presence there; sighing with relief she made her way towards the swing where she had spent the night with Castiel only a little while ago and saw that Hannah was standing there, with her back to Aurora, staring at nothing in particular.

That first glance of Hannah nearly made Aurora rush over to her friend and envelope her in a hug; the girl she knew as Hannah was merely a shadow now. It seemed as if the demon who had possessed her was the source of her bright face and glowing skin for now Hannah stood there looking pale with deep circles under her eyes, almost thinner than ever and a look of sadness was etched on her face. Knowing that Hannah remembered everything didn't make this easier for Aurora, but she had to do this.

"Hannah." She called out softly to her friend, her voice a mere whisper in the wind.

Startled, Hannah nearly jumped when she heard a voice from behind her and spinning around, she found herself face to face with Aurora. For a minute or two, both the ladies simply stood there, staring at each other until...

"How did you find me?" Hannah asked quietly, not meeting Aurora's eyes.

"I didn't see you downstairs and since you weren't in your room, I knew that you were up here on the terrace." Aurora was a little surprised when she heard Hannah question her, it was not what she had expected. Then again the angel did not know how she expected Hannah to react.

Once more Aurora was taken aback when she felt Hannah close the distance between them in a sudden quick hug, the latter having buried her head in the angel's shoulder as she started to cry.

"I remember... I remember everything that I was made to do these past few days... and I couldn't do anything to stop it... I was so scared Ashley... it felt like... like there was another person inside controlling me... oh! What is going on?" Hannah exclaimed in between sobs. "Demons, angels, hunters, Lucifer... the Apocalypse! All of this can't be real, it isn't. Right?" She stepped back from the embrace and looked at Aurora who was watching her with sad eyes.

It was when Hannah saw Aurora's eyes did she realize that everything she had just said was in fact real. She could force her mind to disregard all those things that she had been compelled to do but for some reason, Hannah knew that there was nothing to stop herself from looking into her friend's eyes and seeing their true color.

"You... you're not Ashley are you?" Hannah suddenly said as she nervously stepped further away from Aurora.

"Hannah..." Aurora held out a hand to her friend, "You know that's not true... I am Ashley. I'm just... I explained this to you before... being an angel, I need a vessel to come to Earth and Ashley is that vessel." Aurora was slightly worried now.

"An angel! Right... I remember that one... you said you teleported us from Detroit to Illinois but how do I know that you're not... a... demon? You never showed me any reason to believe that you really are an angel." Hannah was scared to admit to the fact that her best friend wasn't human.

Aurora slowly took a step forward and took her friend's hand in hers; the angel then made Hannah turn around away from the swing so that they were both facing the marble wall of the terrace. Without saying a word, Aurora closed her eyes and concentrated for a second.

"Oh my..." Hannah's voice was filled with shock and surprise as she took in the sight that beheld her.

Aurora was standing in front of the wall and behind her was the shadow of her wings that were black and outstretched. Before Hannah could even blink twice, Aurora's wings had disappeared as quickly as they had come.

"Angels have wings Hannah, not demons. And we don't have black eyes... Holy Water burns them, while it is pure for us. But the most important thing that you have to always remember is that no angel would ever hurt an innocent human like you." Aurora's eyes were starting to water a little as she prayed that Hannah would believe her and not get frightened.

The angel stood silently watching Hannah as she took everything in and thought about all that she had been through since the night she had been kidnapped by Crowley and taken to Lucifer. Thinking about him sent a shiver down her spine and Hannah suddenly knew... she knew that the Devil was real and so was everything else that she was hoping was fake. No dream or illusion could create such an image of the Devil, he had been so terrifyingly calm and yet evil, smiling as he ordered demons to be killed or laughing about the poor state of the planet... and she had listened to him plan the end of the world.

"Aurora!" Hannah finally let herself believe in the truth, she allowed her mind to accept that Aurora was really an angel.

This time, Aurora was the one who took the younger girl in her arms and held her friend tightly as Hannah broke down completely, not knowing how else she could handle so much that was going on. Several minutes passed by without either woman saying a word, Aurora simply hugged Hannah as she tried to calm her down by whispering soft words in Enochian. Soon, she felt the tears stop and decided that it was time for Hannah to return to her room. Together they headed back inside the house and to Hannah's room where Aurora made her friend sit down on the bed while she brought a glass of water for her.

"Here, drink this." She offered the glass to Hannah, who took it with shaky hands.

The past fifteen minutes or so with Hannah on the terrace had been the girl's initial shock of the experience that she had gone through. Now that the stage of being in denial was over, Hannah's mind opened up to acceptance and with it came a lot of questions that she wanted answers to.

"Aurora..." Hannah's voice was soft and sounded sad, immediately hearing her, Aurora sat down on the bed next to her friend.

"Don't worry Hannah, you're safe here... I'm not going to let anything happen to you. No one will hurt you ever again." Aurora promised that.

"Why... why did you not tell me who you were before? The truth about... everything." Hannah asked, knowing that this was something she hadn't spoken to Aurora before.

"I didn't tell you anything because not only was I trying to protect you, but also because I did not know who I really was until barely a few days ago." Aurora explained, "The day when I came with Dean to tell you I was leaving... I still believed I was Ashley... it was only after did I remember that I was an angel. My memories had been locked away in my mind... but something happened that made me remember." At this Aurora stopped, not knowing if she wanted to go on.

"What was it?" Hannah looked at her friend, for she still considered Aurora to be a friend and a protector, "What happened to you that made you remember?" She was curious.

"I don't think you would want to know Hannah... there's a reason why I never brought it up in all these days." Aurora said softly.

"You can tell me anything, you know that... I've survived so much already, how much worse can it be than being kidnapped by the Devil himself?" Hannah let out a hoarse sad laugh.

Aurora remained silent, thinking that if she were to hide her entire life from Hannah, it wouldn't help in rebuilding their friendship and so, with a heavy sigh, Aurora made up her mind to tell Hannah everything.

"There is something worse than being kidnapped by Lucifer..." She replied, "To be betrayed by one of your own, one who you respected and looked up to, to be killed by someone who you thought was an ally... there is nothing worse than that." Her voice fell to a barely audible tone.

"What?" Hannah's eyes grew wide in shock when she heard Aurora's words. "What do you mean _killed_? Who..." It took her only a second to realize she hadn't needed to think about it. "You? Aurora! Who killed you?" Her hand went to her heart as she stared at the angel sitting in front of her.

"Michael. The archangel... he was my mentor... he tried to kill me, in a way you could say that he did because I fell from Heaven and was born as a human with no memory of my life before..." Aurora answered.

"But why?" None of this was making sense to Hannah. "How could an archangel kill another angel?"

"Does it matter why?" Aurora said, finally meeting her friend's eyes. "Do we really need to know _why_ Michael would do such a thing to me? No... all we need to know is that Lucifer needs to be defeated and Michael must not be the one to do it." Her voice suddenly turned cold. "I was killed and so was Ashley, her soul no longer exists inside this body... its an empty shell, Michael must pay for what he has done... I will be the one to defeat Lucifer... and Michael will not be able to do anything about it but watch helplessly from Heaven as I take away the one thing he has been planning for... he will not be the one to stop the world from being consumed by the Apocalypse. He will not create Paradise on Earth after half the planet has been annihilated. I won't let that happen." The determination in her words were clear and firm.

Hannah who had been listening to Aurora with an awestruck look on her face suddenly broke into a small smile. She knew that whatever Aurora was doing was not only for her personal vengeance against Michael, it was also to save everyone on Earth.

"I'm not going anywhere." Hannah told Aurora, "Even though I may be vulnerable right now, I won't leave you Aurora..."

Aurora turned to face Hannah and saw the truth in her friend's words; the angel couldn't help but smile herself. Just then, there was a knock on the door and when she went to open it, her face brightened when she saw who had come.

"Hey, did I miss anything?" Sam asked Aurora as he entered the room and saw Hannah sitting by the edge of the bed.

"Not really no, you happened to come at a perfect time actually!" Aurora smiled happily as she took her younger brother's hand and dragged him over to where Hannah sat. "I just remembered Hannah, that Sam has a way to protect you from any demon trying to possess you again." All the old talk about serious and sad stuff vanished from the angel's mind as she began to set her plan into motion.

"I do?" Sam was confused for a moment and then realized what Aurora was talking about. "Oh yes... I do have something... for you Hannah." He knelt down and removed the amulet Bobby had given to Aurora, "Wear this at all times and you'll be safe from every demon that tries to come after you." Sam told her as he handed the necklace to Hannah.

"T...thanks..." She murmured and slipped the amulet around her neck.

"I'm Sam by the way, Sam Winchester." He held out a hand to Hannah and gave her a small smile.

"I remember you Sam..." Hannah said softly, not taking his hand. She knew that they had met before and even though it hadn't been her, she had fooled him and everyone else by pretending to be normal.

"Yes well, that's all in the past now isn't it? I thought we could start afresh and maybe be friends?" He saw her look at him a little uneasily, "Alright, how about acquaintances then?" Sam was going to take it slow, he knew that there was nothing more he wanted to do than to make Hannah feel like she was welcome in their family now.

"You should agree to that Hannah, otherwise Sam won't stop until he gets his handshake." Aurora couldn't help but laugh as she noticed the exchange between her brother and her friend.

Hesitatingly, Hannah gave in and taking Sam's still outstretched hand, she shook it and replied, "I'm Hannah Hogan."

"Its nice to meet you Hannah." Sam said as he grinned and stood up so that he could sit down on one of the chairs by the window.

"I'm going to go now... I'll be downstairs with Castiel if you need me Hannah, or just ask Sam for anything." Aurora said as she slipped away, leaving Hannah and Sam to talk alone.

As soon as the door closed, Hannah remained seated at the edge of the bed, unsure of what to do or say next. Sam seemed to be studying her for she caught him gazing her way intently. Blushing slightly, she stood up and walked over to the window and sat down on the chair across him, wondering what Sam was doing here.

"I came to check on you..." Sam said, as if he had just read Hannah's mind. "Aurora told us what happened and I thought that you could use a friend... or an acquaintance to talk to." He told her.

"Talk about what?" Hannah asked him softly, even though she knew what he meant.

"You know what I am talking about Hannah..." Sam started to say as he leaned over the table to look in her eyes, making her meet his gaze. "I know what you're going through right now, I understand your feelings and your confused thoughts... you feel scared and you blame yourself for everything that you've done in these past few days." He spoke to her calmly.

"How?" Hannah was a little shocked when she heard his words, "How do you know all this?" She blurted out without giving a second thought to anything.

"There's only one answer to that, isn't there? I've been down this road before Hannah... a few years ago I was possessed by a demon myself." Sam replied with a sad smile now.

"_You_ were possessed?" The incredulity and amazement in her voice was very clear, Hannah definitely did not believe that it was possible.

Sam chuckled when he saw Hannah's reaction but didn't know that she was trying her best to hide her blush again; seeing his dimples and that smile made Hannah feel happy.

"Hunters are humans Hannah, in fact, we have a higher chance of getting killed than anyone else on this planet. We're not invincible and immune to any demon attacks, but we do take as much of precautions as we can. It was only after that I had been possessed did Dean come up with the idea of getting the tattoo's done." Sam explained to her, trying not to laugh anymore.

"Tattoo's?" Hannah sounded confused.

"Anti-possession tattoo's." Sam answered as he pulled his t-shirt down to reveal the tattoo that was inked across his chest.

"Oh." Hannah found herself staring intently at it in wonder. Everything she was learning was something new and she found herself feeling better already.

"Its permanent, so if you want... maybe later..." Sam trailed off, knowing that he wouldn't say anything to Hannah that would appear as if he was forcing her.

"I'd like to have a tattoo like that." Hannah said directly, without thinking. "Maybe tomorrow?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Tomorrow?" Sam was surprised to see a sudden enthusiasm arise in her eyes, it was a little strange but he knew that it would help her feel safe. "Sure, do you want Aurora to do it for you?" He asked her.

"Aurora made the tattoo's for you and Dean?" Hannah hadn't realized that angels could do anything and everything.

"No, this happened before we met any angel. But they do have the ability to brand us with runes and sigils... remind me to show you an x-ray someday." Sam said, smiling at a funny memory he recalled.

"I'll hold you to it." Hannah told Sam sounding as if she was about to laugh.

"Definitely." Sam was glad to see that Hannah was already beginning to feel a lot better and he knew that this was just the beginning of a small and simple conversation between them.

While Sam and Hannah were getting to know each other, Aurora had gone downstairs to the den and was pleasantly surprised to see that Castiel, Sophia and Balthazar were sitting there waiting for her.

"Aurora, you're here!" Sophia said beaming with happiness, it was a sudden change in the archangel and Aurora was confused for a moment.

"Sit down _mei-mei_, we've been waiting for you to come so that our group would finally be complete!" It seemed as if Sophia's cheerfulness had passed on to Balthazar.

Fortunately for Aurora, Castiel was perfectly normal, he stood up and taking her hand led her to the seat next to him where she sat down, not leaving his hand.

"Sophia and Balthazar appear to be in good spirits because it is the first time that the four of us are together, alone after a very long time." Castiel explained to Aurora.

"Oh... right." The fact had slipped from her mind; the four angels hadn't been together without the humans around them in all these days since she had retrieved her memories.

"Its like the old days... isn't it Aura?" Balthazar's smile seemed to grow wider with each word.

Aurora couldn't help but laughing at this sight, it was something so simple and yet Balthazar and Sophia were enjoying themselves so much that Aurora knew she and Castiel had to join in, after all this seemed to be the last time they would get to spend time together being happy and at peace.

For the next half an hour or so, the four angels did nothing but reminisce about their old days in Heaven before things had changed. Balthazar took great pleasure in reminding Aurora about how shy she had been when Castiel had met her for the first time and laughed heartily when Aurora blushed deeply and hid her face in Castiel's trench coat.

"I told you not to tell anyone that!" She mumbled, her head now resting on Castiel's chest.

"Oh come on _mei-mei_, its just us... we're family aren't we? There shouldn't be any secrets between us... and Cassy boy here should know how much you were _in love_ with him." The last few words Balthazar spoke in a high falsetto tone which caused everyone to burst out laughing again.

"There is no need for any stories really Balthazar, I already know everything. Aura's told me many things... perhaps you may not know all of them but I do." Castiel said a smile playing on his lips.

Hearing Castiel's words, Balthazar's eyes grew wide with surprise, he was of course pretending to be shocked but it helped to liven the mood up even more.

"Aurora? What is this? You've told Cas everything but not me? I'm supposed to be your brother, your confidante, your secret-keeper!" Balthazar feigned sadness as he spoke.

"I didn't see why I should hide everything from Cas... he is my soul-mate isn't he? If I don't share all my secrets with him then who will I share them with?" Aurora decided to play along, "And besides, there are some things which are better left untold to you. Cas and I deserve to have some secrets of our own."

Instead of saying anything to Aurora, Castiel leaned down and kissed the top of her head which caused Balthazar to burst into a big smile of happiness.

"Get a room you two." He said flat-out, smirking evilly at the couple.

"Balthazar..." Sophia suddenly spoke up, having listened to this interaction quietly all this time.

He turned to face the archangel, thinking that she was angry with him for teasing Aurora and Castiel for so long, but Balthazar didn't know that he was in for a surprise.

"I think we should let Aurora and Cas have some time together,_ alone_." Sophia's words had barely left her mouth than she felt Balthazar grab her hand as he stood up quickly almost ready to run out of the den.

"Yes, that's a brilliant idea Sophia! You're a genius!" Balthazar exclaimed.

"Oh no you don't!" Aurora's pretend stern voice stopped him, just as he left Sophia's hand and turned to face Aurora.

"Yes _mei-mei_?" Balthazar's innocence always worked on her, and he hoped it would work again.

"Sit down, you're not going anywhere. This is supposed to be _our _time together." Aurora told him plainly, "And besides, Cas and I will have plenty of time to be alone later." She added with a wink.

Once more they all broke out in laughter unable to control themselves. But in the midst of all this happiness, even though all the bad things were left untouched, the harsh reality forgotten and plans left unsaid, one of the angels couldn't help but sit quietly and think about how it would be to have someone like Castiel was to Aurora.

Sophia found herself imagining an identical scene with Castiel and Aurora, sitting with them and enjoying every moment of it with all her heart; and in that dream she saw that just like Castiel had his arms wrapped around Aurora, constantly dropping kisses on her head, Sophia too had someone holding her and caring for her equally. Someone who looked a lot like Balthazar.

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**That was nice wasn't it? ^_^**


	63. Chapter 62

Thank You to all my reviewers for the feedback: **minaghostwolf, valeskathesilverwolf, sara1988 and joyceeluna! **Sorry for the delay everyone! Here's the new chapter! A bit of a short filler but loads of happy stuff happening! ^_^

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_Sophia found herself imagining an identical scene with Castiel and Aurora, sitting with them and enjoying every moment of it with all her heart; and in that dream she saw that just like Castiel had his arms wrapped around Aurora, constantly dropping kisses on her head, Sophia too had someone holding her and caring for her equally. Someone who looked a lot like Balthazar._

"Sophia?" A soft snapping of fingers in front of Sophia's eyes brought the archangel out of her reverie and was surprised to see Balthazar's eyes staring back at her. "Hey, you okay?" He asked her, sounding as if he had forgotten Aurora and Castiel were watching them quietly.

"Huh? Oh yes... I'm fine, I was just thinking..." Sophia let her voice trail as she left the sentence incomplete, it was better that way.

"About?" Aurora's teasing voice broke through Balthazar and Sophia's conversation, the big smile evident on her face.

"About the time when Balthazar and Castiel came up with the strict regimen for training our soldiers; it was simply ingenious and yet coming from them..." Sophia couldn't help but giggle as the memory suddenly returned to her.

"It was not my idea." Castiel said as a matter of fact, not bothering to hide his grin. They were back to making fun of each other.

"Hey! What do you mean by that Cas?" Balthazar exclaimed in mock surprise, "It was as much your idea as it was mine. And in case you ladies have forgotten, that so-called strict regimen of ours worked nicely."

"Of course it did! After all, with the two of you heading the training, things could _never_ go wrong." By now, Aurora was having a fit of giggles.

"You're not serious are you Aura?" Balthazar heard the sarcasm in her voice and turned to Sophia for help.

"I'm afraid that I have to agree with Aurora..." Sophia added in, a bright smile spreading over her lips now. "It was quite clear that with you two working together, everything went a little... over the top."

Instead of saying anything, Castiel and Balthazar exchanged a quick look without Aurora or Sophia noticing it and before anyone else could move, Aurora was being tackled into the sofa by both the angels who began to tickle her. Overcome with laughter, she didn't mind the tickling but almost a second later she heard Sophia gasp in surprise and opening her eyes, Aurora saw that Castiel was standing above her holding out a hand. Quickly jumping to her feet, they both turned around and were pleasantly amazed when they saw that Balthazar had run over to Sophia and wasn't sparing her from the tickling punishment either.

"Balthazar!" Sophia squealed as she tried to get him to stop tickling her. "Stop... it!" She couldn't help but laugh and squirm.

"Alright, alright... I surrender." Balthazar raised his hands but gave her an angelic smirk as he helped her stand up.

Fortunately for him, Aurora and Castiel had quietly slipped outside when they noticed what was happening and if that wasn't lucky enough for him, Sophia was still a little giggly as she got to her feet and stumbled a little, falling into Balthazar's arms.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, noticing that her arms had tiny goosebumps on them, which had nothing to do with the cold.

"Yes... I just..." Sophia blushed as she managed a soft smile, she was still holding onto Balthazar's arm and was very much aware of his hand around her waist. "Sorry, its just that I haven't felt this kind of happiness in a long time... it was nice that we all were reminiscing about the old days, I could have done with a few more laughs." She admitted.

"You look even more beautiful when you're smiling." Balthazar complimented, without caring if it seemed a little direct, he was telling the truth; Sophia's face lit up with her smiles.

"Thank you..." Sophia bent her head a little lower, trying to hide the blush that was reddening by the second; not wanting to let the moment end but to also make it less awkward, she changed the topic. "Where did Aura and Cas go now?" She asked him.

"I think they went outside a few minutes ago... ah..." Balthazar paused for a second as he heard a loud chatter of voices coming from outside, "It appears that everyone else has come downstairs for dinner." He mused. "We should go join them." Saying so, he let go of Sophia's waist and held out his arm for her instead.

Taking a hold of his arm, Sophia suddenly felt as if that was where she belonged, with Balthazar by her side. She was a little scared about these thoughts that she had suddenly developed so strongly towards him, only because she feared for their friendship. And being the archangel of wisdom and love wasn't making things easier; her mind was telling her not to act on these feelings just yet while her heart was constantly pushing her to do something!

"Lost in deep thoughts are we?" Balthazar's soft voice reached Sophia's ears.

"Nothing special, I was merely thinking about how nice it is to have someone like you for me to rely on." Sophia commented casually and then taking a courageous step, she leaned on Balthazar's chest as they continued to walk towards the dining room.

For a split second Balthazar was slightly surprised but then he realized that Sophia was slowly beginning to trust him more and he was happy to know that she had enough faith in him to know that he would always keep her safe. Gently placing his arm around her shoulder and relaxing when he saw that Sophia didn't say anything. As soon as they reached the hall though, Balthazar moved away from her to a safe distance while still staying close to her.

"Finally! We were wondering where you two had got to." Aurora exclaimed happily when she saw Balthazar and Sophia enter the room where everyone was already seated.

"Balthazar," Dean started to say when he saw the angel, "What have you done to our sister? She's giddy with happiness over here! Is she high?" The look on Dean's face was priceless as everyone burst out laughing at his comment.

"She's high on her happiness Dean." Sam told his older brother, smiling himself. It seemed as if the angels' cheerful mood had been passed over to the others.

"We all needed a day off, didn't you say so yourself Dean?" Jo told him, the two of them were sitting side by side and exchanging adorable glances when they thought no one was looking their way.

"I know I said that, but its like we have a spell on us or something!" Dean exclaimed, "I just don't get it..." He was happy as well but couldn't believe that they all had nothing to worry about now.

"Dean, this is real. We all have nothing to worry about... no one but ourselves, it is a chance to spend our time together and be happy." Castiel wasn't as open with his happiness but he was smiling occasionally and seemed to have loosened up quite a bit.

"Alright fine, but there's no real happiness without real drinks!" Dean finally jumped up and getting into the spirit of being happy, went to get some beer for everyone except the angels.

Within fifteen minutes, everyone was much more laid and once dinner was over, the whole group had retired to the den where they all just spread out and lay down across the sofa's next to each other. This was the second time they all had gathered together to relax but unlike the first time, they were all sure that nothing was going to go wrong that night.

Aurora was resting against Castiel's chest while Jo had stretched out her legs casually on top of Dean's, Bobby was resting on the armchair and Chuck was nervously trying not to let his gaze wander towards the bottle of beer that Dean had brought out with him. Ellen was sitting next to Dean and Jo, looking pleased but had busied herself in reading some old journals of John's that she had borrowed from Sam, who was surprisingly sitting at the far end of the room with Hannah and the two of them were in deep conversation with each other. Balthazar meanwhile was lying on one of the sofa's with his legs stretched out in front of him and Sophia, who was sitting at the other end of that very sofa had curled up her legs to the side so that seemingly unintentional, every time either of them moved, their feet would touch each other or their toes would tickle.

"Cas..." Aurora whispered, noticing that everyone else was busy in their own thing but still together.

"Aurora... you seem to be thinking about something am I right?" Castiel spoke to her softly, Dean and Jo were the closest to them but they were both too busy flirting with their eyes.

"I was thinking that if we could somehow get the three couples alone together... then maybe things would speed up?" She said suggestively, trying to sound innocent with her plan.

Castiel couldn't help but chuckle softly when he heard what Aurora had to say; there was a loose strand of hair fallen across her arm and fingering the golden blonde hair, he began to play with it mindlessly before giving her some good news.

"I expect that you will be happy to know that Bobby and Ellen are going to return to Sioux Falls on Sunday with Chuck. They have made sure that Bobby's house is well protected and that is where the others will remain on Monday." Castiel told her.

Aurora was more than happy when Castiel told her that but instead of freaking out too much and alerting the others, she controlled her excitement a little and then calmed down.

"Are you saying on Sunday night we'll have the house to ourselves?" She asked him, meaning four the angels and the four young hunters.

"Yes. It will be just you and I, Dean, Sam, Jo, Hannah, Sophia and Balthazar." Castiel replied.

"Perfect. Everything will go smoothly then." Aurora stated before she reached out a hand to touch Castiel's cheek above her.

He leaned down and listened to Aurora's plan quietly, a smile forming on his lips as he understood what needed to be done and with a little help from their friends, he knew that two nights from now, everything was going to turn out the way that Aurora wanted. Tomorrow would be a long day of training; they all were going to be awake by sunrise and start their preparations. Just then the clock chimed midnight and with that, Ellen put down her book as she slipped into her mother-mode.

"Alright, come on you lot." She told Dean and the others, "Its time for us to sleep, we have to be up at sunrise so get all the sleep you need." Ellen stood up and waited for only a minute to see who was going to disagree with her.

"Mom! We're not kids..." Jo started to protest but she knew that there was no point in arguing with her mother; Ellen was the only one who had a soft yet firm spot for them all. She had appointed herself to take care of Jo, Dean, Sam and Hannah as well.

"Joanna..." Ellen started to say, sounding a little strict, but luckily Dean managed to cut through as gently as possible.

"Ellen's right Jo, we should get some sleep. Got a long day ahead of us tomorrow..." He waited until she had removed her legs from on top of his and then took her hand as he helped Jo to stand up.

"Of course Dean, you know best... sticking up in front of mom and everything's given you a chance to get in her good books, right?" Jo teased, indirectly trying to hint at something she hoped Dean would get.

"There's no need for that, I'm already in Ellen's good books..." Dean told Jo as Ellen shook her head while trying not to laugh at her daughter's shocked face.

"He's right Jo..." Ellen replied smiling at her daughter and began ushering her out of the den.

Sam and Hannah were still lost in their talking that it was only when Dean walked over to them and gave Sam a light whack on his head did they both realize that everyone else was getting ready to head upstairs to sleep.

"Sammy..." Dean said to his brother in a long stretched tone, "We'll have a lot of time to sit and talk tomorrow and the day after that, why don't we get some rest till then?" He had noticed the way Hannah immediately felt that Sam was trustworthy enough to share everything with him and Dean felt good to know that Sam had someone to care about.

"Right... I know that Dean." Sam told his older brother, "I was just filling Hannah into all the events that got us here... she wants to help us."

"Hannah?" Aurora's voice suddenly was heard from behind Dean's shoulder, she had heard Sam's last words and came over to talk to her friend.

"I mean it... I want to help you all... maybe not by fighting but... there must be something that I can do, there's no way that I'll just run back home and act as if nothing happened to me." Hannah was a little hesitant but definitely certain in her decision.

"Alright, if you want to stay then I won't stop you Hannah... but please be careful." It was reassuring for Aurora to know that Hannah would be with them where she was safe.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her." Sam suddenly said, not realizing that he had spoken out loud.

Aurora and Dean exchanged a bright smile silently, both of them understanding what was going on, but they were not going to say anything to Sam just yet.

"That's good enough for me." Aurora said, "You won't get a better protector Hannah, Sam is just like Dean..." She told her best friend, hoping that Hannah would remember their conversation when Aurora had come to her the day after meeting Sam and Dean.

"We going upstairs to sleep or not?" Dean chimed in, "Everyone but Cas has gone already..." He added, hoping that Aurora would let Sam take Hannah up to her room.

"What about Balthazar and Sophia? Where have they gone now?" Aurora looked around the den and saw only Castiel, waiting by the door for her.

"They were with Jo last I saw them." Dean said casually, holding his hand out for Aurora.

It took Aurora only a second to realize that there was a reason behind Dean's sudden impatience; turning around she saw that Hannah and Sam had fallen silent but were stealing innocent looks. Taking his outstretched hand, Aurora walked with him towards Castiel leaving Sam and Hannah alone to head upstairs together. For a few minutes, the angel couple remained in the hall until Dean returned back.

"Hannah's sleeping in Sophia's room..." There was a playful smile on his face but he wasn't saying anything else.

"That isn't really Sophia's bedroom, we have our rooms on the second floor." Aurora told Dean, "Is she in her room?" Where had the archangel disappeared to suddenly?

"I didn't even know there were rooms on the second floor. She might be there... do you think Balthazar's with her?" Dean didn't know how to sound anything but direct, he too had noticed the way the other two angels behaved around each other.

"I guess I'll have to go and see for myself where she is." Aurora said and kissing Castiel, she headed towards the second floor, thinking whether or not she would find Balthazar with Sophia as well.

As Aurora made her way to Sophia's bedroom on the second floor, Dean sat in the hall with Castiel and the two of them began to have a long chat with each other, something that they hadn't done in a few long days. When Aurora finally reached outside Sophia's room, it took her a minute to think this through, if Balthazar was in there then they were probably trying to talk about things... but how and when did those two disappear? Raising a hand to knock on the door, Aurora was relieved as soon as the door opened and there stood Sophia.

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**So? Is Balthazar inside with Sophia or not? Reviews? ^_^**


	64. Chapter 63

Hey everyone! Sorry for such a long, long, delay! Last week was really hectic and when I was finally free my net busted as you all know... but I'm back! I'm here and ready with a new chapter! Hope everyone enjoys it! ^_^

Thank you readers! **Valeskathesilverwolf, joyceeluna, minaghostwolf and sara1988! ^_^**

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_Aurora was relieved as soon as the door opened and there stood Sophia._

"Aurora, did you not go to bed?" Sophia was a little concerned but didn't seem surprised to see the angel standing at the doorway.

"Not yet... I was merely wondering where you and Balthazar had gone off to... is he here?" Aurora secretly hoped that she _would_ find her brother in Sophia's room.

"Ah yes, we shouldn't have left so quietly just now... but I needed Balthazar to do something for me, he isn't here... why don't you come inside?" The archangel stood aside to let Aurora enter.

"If he isn't here then where is he?" Aurora suddenly felt a little worried because now that she thought about Balthazar, it struck her that she couldn't feel his presence inside the mansion, anywhere.

"There's no need to worry Aurora," Sophia said calmly as she led the younger angel towards the sofas and sat down with her, "Balthazar's safe... he will be back soon." The strange soothing tone in Sophia's voice made Aurora wonder what exactly the two angels were up to.

"Alright... I guess there's nothing I can do but wait..." She said with a faint sigh, "I suppose that you won't tell me where it is that Balthazar's gone?" Aurora knew that there wasn't much hope that Sophia would reveal her 'secret' but it was worth a try.

"It isn't really a secret Aurora... we were only being cautious..." Sophia started to say, not realizing that Aurora had looked wide-eyed when she heard the word 'we'

"We? Since when have you started referring to Balthazar and yourself as _we_? Did I miss something over here?" Aurora teased.

At this, Sophia couldn't stop herself from blushing but she wasn't going to say anything about it.

"Nothing happened Aurora... and what I was trying to say is that Balthazar and I decided that it would be safer if we moved the weapons from my study to a more secure place. Since I will not remain here on the day of the fight, I could not just leave everything here." Sophia answered Aurora's question as she composed herself.

"Oh... hmm... that does make sense." Aurora mused over Sophia's thoughts and understood the importance of why Heaven's most important and sacred weapons needed to be protected at all times.

"It does... Balthazar went up to my study only a few minutes ago..." And just like that, Sophia stopped in her sentence mid-way.

"Sophia?" Aurora noticed that the archangel suddenly looked a little worried and she knew that something was wrong. "What is it?" She asked her.

"The study. My study... that's where... oh my! Aurora! The laptop!" Sophia exclaimed in surprise as she jumped up from the sofa.

For a moment Aurora didn't catch on to Sophia's sudden panicking but then it hit her, the laptop where Sophia had been trying to enhance the image of the angel soul-mates list. If Balthazar was still in the study... then they still might have time.

"We'd better hurry." Aurora said as she and Sophia quickly hastened across the corridor towards the study where it was luckily still open.

The light's were switched on inside but they couldn't be sure if Balthazar was in there even now. Slowly and quietly, Sophia pushed the door till it swung on its hinges and entered the study with Aurora close behind her. A second later, they both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the light from the computer was still on, but Balthazar had already taken the inventory of weapons with him, leaving all the glass cases empty.

"He's gone... but we should take a look at the computer and check to see if everything is untouched, I can't believe I forgot all about this!" Sophia muttered as she headed for the desk. "After the electricity going off and with Hannah... it slipped my mind that we were supposed to print the list out once it was done." She told Aurora.

"There's a good chance that Balthazar didn't see anything and was simply too busy to take print-outs..." Aurora tried to sound reassuring but for some reason she didn't feel too sure.

And soon enough, when the two angels reached the desk, they took a glimpse at the computer screen and then towards the printer which was surprisingly switched off. The screen was blank, nothing was powered up.

"It looks like it must have crashed when the lights went..." Sophia explained to herself and to Aurora as she tried starting the computer up again.

"Well that's a relief then isn't it? I guess Balthazar must have left when he was done collecting everything..." Aurora wondered to herself if it was a good thing that Balthazar didn't seem to have taken notice of the computer.

"Yes it is..." Sophia nodded her head in agreement and then let out a sigh, "Its no use, I can't get this thing to work." There was a slight disappointment in her tone but she wasn't about to let it affect her.

"We should let it be Sophia... come, let us go back to our rooms, Balthazar will return shortly and if we do not meet him tonight before sleeping, then I am sure he most definitely will show up for training tomorrow morning." Aurora smiled inwardly, thinking of new ideas to get Balthazar and Sophia closer to each other.

The two of them left the study a few minutes later and after locking it up, they both headed to their respective rooms to catch up on some sleep. Sophia found herself thinking about the list once again, how she had forgotten about it, how she had felt at home with Balthazar when they were together, and about how it did not matter anymore whether that list was right or wrong. Aurora too did not fall asleep immediately but waited for a while to see if Castiel would come to her as always.

For now, Aurora's soul-mate, companion and protector was sitting in the hall with Dean, trying his level best not to appear as if his friend's condition was... pleasantly entertaining. Castiel sat on one of the sofa's across from Dean and kept an eye on his charge, who was still enjoying himself, just like Aurora had said. This was the only night they had to celebrate without worrying about what was to come... well in reality it was not their last night, but even so...

"Cas! Cas, my dear dear friend... I have something to say to you!" Dean exclaimed as he stood up on the coffee table trying his very best to stand still on both his feet – he had apparently had too much to drink.

"Dean, whatever it is you have to say, I suggest you do so when you have your feet on the ground and not in mid-air." Castiel had clearly not expected for his friend to become drunk.

"Why? What's wrong in staying mid-air Cas?" Dean was not completely sloshed but still was high on his alcohol and happiness.

"It is because you are inebriated Dean..." Castiel started to say but was cut off by Dean.

"I think intoxicated is the right word here." He murmured trying not to sway too much.

"They mean the same thing Dean..." Castiel said calmly, knowing that there was no need to be annoyed or irritated. "I do not think that Jo would approve if anything were to happen to you." The angel was a little amused to see Dean so loose with himself, it was a side of his friend that Castiel was glad to be a part of.

"You've stolen the words from my mouth Cas!" He said in mock-sadness but still slumped down and sat on top of the table. "That's exactly what I need to talk to you about." Dean grumbled.

"You wish to talk to me about Jo?" Castiel wondered what Dean had to say to him and why it had come up only now, after having consumed copious amounts of alcohol.

"Yes! Yes I do... Cas... I need to tell her about my feelings! She needs to know what's in _here._" Dean pointed to his heart as he emphasized the last word.

"I see... you want to tell Jo that you love her." It was as simple as that. This was something that Dean had wanted to talk to him about since a long time and Castiel knew it was not something that had come out of nowhere.

For a moment, Dean looked at Castiel as if he was the one who was drunk. But whatever the reason, as soon as Castiel had mentioned that one thing, Dean immediately felt himself sober up a little. He slid off the table and moved to sit on the sofa.

"Is it really that obvious Cas?" Dean asked his angel friend in a low voice, sounding serious rather than drunk.

"It is not a question of being obvious or not Dean..." They had already had a discussion about this before, "Its about knowing that you have to tell Jo what is it you feel for her and accept her." Castiel wasn't sure if he was giving the right advice but it was a start.

"Accept her? You really think that we stand a chance?" Dean finally looked up and met Castiel's gaze. "I don't... I don't see it Cas... I don't see a future for us..." His voice trailed off.

"Why would you say that Dean?" Castiel asked him calmly, he knew what Dean was trying to say but he needed his friend to open up and lay everything out, it was the only way.

"Because... I... because I don't think she deserves to be with someone like me..." Dean started to say but Castiel cut him off this time.

"By saying 'someone like me' are you suggesting that Jo deserves someone who doesn't protect her all the time, who won't care about her enough to die for her, who isn't willing to put her happiness before his own? Because that is who you are to Jo, Dean. You both love each other so much and yet..." Castiel knew he didn't have to finish because he had already put his point across.

"And yet... I'm scared Cas... I don't know if I can live the life that we want together... being a hunter means no apple-pie family life with half a dozen kids and not caring about the world." Dean tried to make himself understand why he was so hesitant.

"You and Jo do not need the apple-pie family life... all you need is to be together... and you already know that her answer is going to be yes... nothing else matters Dean. Not when you will have each other... she knows what she needs and so do you." Castiel explained.

"Is it really that simple Cas?" Dean sounded a little unsure, he had never known what simple meant, in his life, nothing was easy.

"Yes, it is. Just talk to Jo... everything will fall into place with time." Castiel knew that Dean was on the right path now.

"Okay." Dean nodded, "I can do this..." He stood up suddenly as if he were about to go to Jo immediately but then he realized that the couple of beers he'd had continued to affect his senses and he swayed, "Whoa! Okay... can't do this right now." He grumbled as he sat back down.

"There is time Dean, you can talk to Jo when the others leave on Sunday. It will be only you, Jo, Hannah, Sam, Aurora, Balthazar, Sophia and I in the house." Castiel figured that if Aurora's plan had to work, they'd need the extra day to prepare Jo as well.

"That sounds like a good idea..." Dean said softly and then fell back into deep thought. "I wonder... if getting drunk was all it takes for us to realize what we have to say to the ones we love, then why not do the same thing with Balthazar and Sophia?" It was an idea that suddenly occurred to Dean, the perfect idea.

At first, Castiel did not realize that Dean also knew about Balthazar and Sophia, but then it dawned on him that everyone could see it plainly that there was something going on between his angel friends. And hearing Dean's idea was just the thing that he and Aurora had been looking for.

"I think you may have come up with the perfect idea Dean." Castiel told his friend as he allowed a bright smile to cross his lips. "This will definitely work in our favor." The plan was already forming in his mind and now all he had to do was talk to Aurora.

"Glad to be of service..." Dean replied smiling as well, "Now how about we get ourselves to bed? I'm definitely going to be hung over tomorrow morning... sheesh... Aurora's not going to like this at all." He groaned.

"Perhaps I can help you out?" Castiel offered, "No hang-over, you won't be getting Aurora mad." This time, the angel's smile turned into a grin.

"You'd do that for me to save my life from Aurora?" Dean was feeling a little suspicious of the angel just then, he knew something didn't fit.

"I do not see how this counts as saving your life... Aurora will not kill you for getting inebriated, she will merely... see to it that you do not get completely drunk as you call it, the next time we have something critical to work on." Castiel was teasing, but it seemed like a good idea.

"Fine, fine. Do your angel mojo already." Dean smirked but stayed silent instead of commenting on what Castiel had told him.

Within a minute, Castiel had placed his fingers on Dean's forehead and seconds later, the effects of his drinking had left Dean, getting rid of his intoxicated feeling; it was a strange request that normally wouldn't have been asked, but Castiel figured there was no harm in it.

"Thanks." Dean sounded relieved now that he knew he would be able to get a little peaceful sleep that night.

"You're welcome Dean... I think it is best if you try and get some sleep now. I will go to Aurora... she must be awake." Castiel said as the two of them got up and headed towards the staircase.

"Wait... are you two... are you _sharing_ a room with my sister?" Dean sounded surprised when he heard Castiel casually mention that he would be spending the rest of the night with Aurora.

"Do you really want me to answer that question Dean?" Castiel replied with a question of his own, knowing it was amusing to see Dean's reactions.

"You know what Cas? I don't think I do... I'm not about to start listening to Aurora's love life... just... just keep it to yourself okay?" Dean shook his head as they reached the first floor; he definitely did not want to know what went on between his best friend and his sister when they were alone.

Castiel couldn't say anything after that because he vanished just outside Dean's room, laughing a little and went to meet Aurora in their room which they did share together; but unlike what Dean thought, the couple simply spent the time together talking about the past, and cuddling by the window.

The mansion was soon silent after Dean had gone to his room to sleep; everyone else was either fast asleep or in their respective rooms, laying in bed quietly while the night outside grew darker but the weather remained calm, almost as if it were the calm before the storm that was looming high above everybody's heads. As the night wore on, Castiel and Aurora fell asleep in each others arms while Sophia drifted in and out of her dreams, which unsurprisingly about Balthazar.

As for the angel in question, it had been two hours since leaving Sophia's mansion to store Heaven's weapons in a safe place and yet it seemed as if there was no sign of his return. The rooms on the second floor were only occupied by the angels, two out of the four rooms were empty, one being Sophia's study and the other being Balthazar's room. But it seemed as if there was a shadow hovering around inside the latter's room, not making a noise as the balcony windows were opened gently, allowing a cool breeze to enter. And indeed, a tall figure stood leaning against the rails gazing at the stars shimmering in the sky, with the moon shining brightly down. In his hands were two sheets of paper and by the light of the moon, the words on it were clearly visible.

"Chamuel... destined soul-mate... Diana..." The voice whispered, "Balthazar... destined soul-mate... Sophia."

These were the print-outs of Sophia's research with him and they were what he had expected them to be. Looking up once more and smiling, Balthazar knew that he was definitely going to enjoy this.

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**Well? Do I get many nice and lovely reviews? ^_^**

**P.S - Next chapter, longer one will be up by saturday!**


	65. Chapter 64

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay, I have made up for the lateness of this chapter by opening with a lovely Cas/Aurora scene! And the chapter overall is long as well, so do enjoy! ^_^

Thank you to my readers: **sara1988, franz musni and joyceeluna **for your awesome reviews!

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Balthazar remained standing by the balcony for a few more minutes with his eyes closed, letting the cool breeze tickle his face as it made its way past him. He was thinking about what he had read, it confirmed everything that he already believed in and now the question was what had to be done next. While his thoughts traveled from Sophia to well, more memories of her, instinctively, his hand went to his neck on which a thin black cord hung and on it was a tiny leather pouch. It was then did Balthazar decide that for now it was best if he said nothing about what he had found to anyone else, especially not Aurora. Smiling to himself, Balthazar entered his room and thought of getting some sleep as well since there would be no time after tonight, he was looking forward to the new day which would bring him face to face with Sophia again, only this time it was with the certainty that she was his soul-mate.

The sun was just beginning to rise when Aurora awoke the next morning and to her surprise, Castiel was not beside her. Instead of worrying about it, she presumed that he must have woken up earlier and already was preparing for their training session for the day. Stretching slightly, she rose from the bed gracefully and was about to get ready before going downstairs to cook breakfast for Dean and the others when she sensed someone watching her from behind. Turning around slowly, Aurora smiled when she saw Castiel there, gazing at her as if she were a heavenly maiden, which she was, but it felt wonderful to see him like this.

"Cas!" Aurora couldn't help but blushing after staying where she was for a few minutes noticing that Castiel wasn't taking his eyes off her. She noticed that he had chosen to wear only a white shirt nowadays, since they were inside the house all day there was no need to use the trenchcoat, but Aurora usually found herself wrapped inside it someway or the other.

"Have I told you how beautiful you are Aurora?" Castiel tilted his head slightly as he smiled at her, "Especially in the sunlight, from where you are standing I can see the sun casting a golden halo all around you." It was true since Aurora was standing with her back to the open balcony doors from where the first rays of sunlight were pouring inside the room.

This time, Aurora tried to move away so that she could get changed but Castiel was quicker, he had closed the distance between them before she had even blinked and now he too felt the sunlight's glow all over him.

"Aura..." He whispered her name softly and she glanced up, looking at his face and nearly forgetting to breathe then.

"Your eyes..." Aurora stared in awe as she saw that the bright sun was reflected in Castiel's eyes, making the cerulean blue orbs turn into molten gold. "They're so beautiful..." She reached up and touched his cheek.

"Is it only my eyes that are beautiful?" Castiel asked her not hiding his smirk as he teased her.

"Yes... I think its just your eyes..." Instead of acting like a lovestruk teenager all over again, Aurora decided that she could be playful too if she wanted.

The remark definitely surprised Castiel but he chose not to say anything, rather leaned in closer to Aurora almost brushing his lips against hers, yet as soon as he saw that she had closed her eyes, the grin returned and he slid his hand to her waist and tickled her.

"Cas!" Aurora nearly screamed as she tried to pull away from him but he wasn't about to let her go. Somehow she did manage to wriggle free and slipping through his fingers, Aurora vainshed out of sight and reappeared across the room.

"Clever trick Aurora, but I am not done with you yet." Castiel's voice took on a soft whispering tone which sent a shiver down Aurora's spine.

"Really? Try catching me first, then we'll see who's done with whom." Aurora wasn't about to be fazed by Castiel's seductive voice.

"Yes I believe we shall..." Curling his lips into a grin, Castiel had crossed over to where Aurora was standing and was just about to grab hold of her waist when he felt her run away from him again.

"Oh come on Cas!" Aurora teased, "Can't you catch me?" She felt a rush of energy soar through her as their little game went on.

Aurora had never felt more alive than she was feeling during those moments, it felt as if she were a girl all over again; a girl who seemed to be enjoying herself as she playfully taunted her boyfriend on a bright saturday morning.

"I would not look so pleased just yet Aura..." Castiel said, standing his ground with his arms folded across his chest.

"And why is that?" Aurora figured that since he was on the opposite side of the room, there was no way that Castiel would make it to her, even if he teleported to catch her again.

"There is one little thing that you seem to have forgotten." He told her, with a smile playing across his lips.

"What would this _little_ thing be?" Aurora faltered for a second, a little confused as to what Castiel was talking about and why he was no longer chasing her.

"You may be the better fighter..." Castiel said, unfolding his arms and vanishing suddenly only to reappear right behind Aurora, "But I was always better when it came to agility." He whispered into her ear as he slid his arm around her waist.

It had happened so quickly that Aurora didn't immediately realize that Castiel had distracted her by talking, one second he was near the door and the other, he was by the balcony and had finally caught her unawares.

"That's not fair Cas!" Aurora pouted as she turned around to face him, now fully aware that he had both his arms around her waist, not tightly but strong enough to keep her there.

"I believe that you mentioned it was only my eyes that you found beautiful?" Castiel reminded her, causing her to blush deeply. He wanted to hear what else she thought was beautiful about him.

"Yes well I meant what I said... about your eyes... and... and besides... you..." Aurora couldn't find herself to say what Castiel wanted to hear, "You... you cheated, Cas!" She tried to sound angry but it was no use.

"Everything is fair in love and war... I believe that is the term most famously used?" He asked her as he smiled, it was that smile of pure bliss and happiness that made Aurora feel like she couldn't have asked for a better soul-mate.

"You do know how cheesy this is right?" Aurora commented, unable to stop herself from saying so. "I mean, I love everything... but..." Before she could finish, Castiel had placed a finger on her lips.

"I prefer to think of this as old fashioned." He said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear before gently kissing her forehead. "I think its time we went downstairs... the others will be waking up soon."

"Do we have to go?" Aurora asked sounding a little sad, "Can't we stay like this for a little while longer, just you and I?" She didn't want to end this perfect moment so suddenly.

"I do not mind spending the rest of time staying here with you... but we have work to do first. Once we are finished then we will have an eternity to be with each other." Castiel told her as he embraced her in his arms.

The two of them stood there hugging each other for a few minutes, letting the moment last for as long as they could. Both Castiel and Aurora knew that they would always be together no matter what, there was just one thing they had to do before that – stop Lucifer and the Apocalypse.

"Why don't you go and check on Balthazar, see if he's awake." Aurora suggested to Castiel as they broke apart from the hug, "I'll go and get started on breakfast."

"I will see you in a few minutes." Castiel assured her and with a quick kiss on the lips, he was gone.

Aurora was a little dazed after the kiss but she managed to shake her head clear and went to change. Less than five minutes later, Aurora made her way to the kitchen where she was greeted by a pleasant surprise.

"Hey! Good morning Aurora." It was Hannah, who was not only wide awake and dressed, but was already halfway through with cooking breakfast.

"Hannah... when did you wake up?" Aurora asked sounding a little surprised.

The angel took one look at the counter next to her which was laid with plates of food, with more being prepared. Aurora was surprised to see her best friend in a new role, happy surprised.

"Not too long ago, about 20 minutes back... I didn't realize you were awake as well... but I mean, you don't really sleep do you?" Hannah said sheepishly as she went back to the frying pan; she was still a bit confused.

"We don't necessarily need sleep but definitely require a few hours of relaxation to conserve our energy, and because I need a lot of it, I try to get as much sleep as I can get." Aurora explained, as she sidled over hoping to get a glimpse of the foods that were giving out such a delicious aroma.

"Oh... okay, well that makes a lot of sense. Thanks." Hannah said as she scooped up some pancakes and laid them on a plate.

"Are you sure that you haven't made plans to open your own restaurant yet Hannah? I mean look at all this food!" Aurora exclaimed as she saw everything.

The table was laden with pancakes, toast, eggs, sausages and even waffles. It was truly a lavish breakfast fit for a dozen people and they were only 7!

"Well... I might be considering it now... but we'll have to see what happens day after tomorrow first right?" Hannah said softly, not meaning to bring up the topic so early in the morning.

"Don't worry Hannah, we'll be fine." Aurora placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and gave her a warm smile.

"I know we will... I mean, we have four angels on our side!" Hannah said brightly, sometimes the idea of her best friend being an angel still felt a little surreal to her, but she was getting used to it now. "I only wish that I could be of more help." She added.

"You already are helping out Hannah! You've practically taken over Ellen's role... taking care of the food, keeping everyone calm and composed, handling the house... I think its wonderful that you're staying here with us... we could use someone normal too. It helps maintain a balance." Aurora really felt that having Hannah with them was a great thing.

"Thanks Aurora... I'm only trying to help everyone in whatever way I can... still thank you, it means a lot to me that you let me stay back. I wouldn't have been to return home and just do nothing..." Hannah told her friend as she finally finished getting the last batch of food out onto the table.

"And I'm glad that I decided to let you stay with us." Aurora began to assist Hannah in setting the table for everyone to eat.

"So, can I ask you something?" Hannah suddenly said as she covered the food to keep everything hot.

"Yes of course you can Hannah, there's no need for being so formal. What is it?" Aurora asked her, as they made their way towards the first floor; they were going to see if everyone was awake and ready for breakfast.

"Umm... its about... Balthazar actually." Hannah started to say, wondering how she would go about this.

"What about Balthazar?" Hearing his name, Aurora was a little curious to know what Hannah wanted to ask her.

"Its nothing big really, I'm still a little confused about something else that I heard the other day... you've been calling Balthazar your brother... I know that Dean and Sam are your real brothers because you're also Ashley but I didn't realize that angels had brothers and sisters as well. You call Sophia your sister too don't you?" Hannah sort of let everything slip out a little too quickly.

"Ah... yes I believe that does require a little explaining on my behalf because Balthazar and Sophia are not literally my siblings. The only real relationship is between soul-mates and those who are bonded to each other, and because I have them bonded to me already, it has created a sense of family among us..." Aurora explained and went on, "But honestly, with Balthazar, he's always been a little too over-protective of me... when we used to train, he would always try to partner up with me and I did not mind because he really is a wonderful angel and once the bond was formed, he took it up to officially name himself my brother." She smiled, remembering the day Balthazar had been bonded to her.

"Wow... so he really is like a brother to you isn't he?" Hannah asked, they had already reached Ellen and Jo's room but the two women were still asleep.

"Yes he is. As for Sophia... its different because even though she is like a sister to me, she has always been my guide, being an archangel it was her responsibility to teach, train and access the strength of my abilities, so she has always been a teacher of sorts. It is only because we are very close that I consider her as a sister, but there is a certain formality as well to our friendship."

"I think I get it now... so... that means if Balthazar and Sophia..." Hannah began to say, slowly and a little uncertainly.

As soon as the words 'Balthazar and Sophia' had left Hannah's mouth, Aurora looked at her friend with wide eyes and couldn't help letting out a loud giggle. It seemed as if the whole house was well aware of the connection between the two angels except they themselves.

"Did I say something wrong?" Hannah didn't realize why Aurora was laughing.

"Oh. No, no... its just that every one of us knows that there is something going on between Sophia and Balthazar... I had no idea they were so obvious, but sadly it seems as if they haven't figured it out for themselves just yet." Aurora calmed herself down and glanced at her friend, another idea forming in her mind.

"Aurora... you have that look again." Hannah said pointedly, she had been around Ashley for a month and by now, knew how she behaved, "Something's up isn't it?" She asked the angel.

"Yes... but I won't say anything just yet, we'll work on the plan tomorrow... for now, just remember that you're a part of this now... I'm going to need your help with this." A smile playing on her lips, Aurora dragged Hannah towards Dean and Sam's room, knowing that they would definitely be awake.

"Alright, but at least tell me what _this_ is?" Hannah had a feeling that she knew what Aurora was going to say.

"Cas and I are planning to help Balthazar and Sophia to talk to each other... since tomorrow is the day when we'll all be free, its best if they get everything out in the open. We're going to get Dean and Sam to help us out as well, Jo's already volunteered so that's that... but we also need Dean and Jo to talk to each other." Aurora confessed, stopping just outside her brothers' room.

"By talk you mean...?" Hannah figured that Aurora was simply saying it so that it sounded less complicated, the details would come later.

"Yes I mean exactly what you're thinking. But don't worry, we won't be discussing our plans until later tonight, after we've spent the whole day training and working on the plan for the fight. Now let us see if these two are awake, shall we?" Aurora exchanged a smile with Hannah before raising a hand to knock on the door.

While Aurora and Hannah were talking things out and getting everybody up for breakfast, Castiel had gone to Balthazar's room where he found the angel lying awake in bed, staring at the ceiling as if he were lost in some deep thought. The look on his friend's face was enough for Castiel to understand that Balthazar was thinking about Sophia.

"Good morning Balthazar." Castiel said as he entered the room, alerting the other angel who immediately got out of bed.

"Cas! Good morning, up and about already are we?" Balthazar's initial state of unrest and confused thoughts seemed to have vanished as it was replaced by his usual jovial behavior.

"Yes, I was awake since half past 5 but stayed until Aurora woke up. She is cooking breakfast so I came here to see you... is everything alright Balthazar? You seemed lost in deep thought when I entered." Castiel knew that if he wasn't direct then Balthazar would not begin the conversation himself.

"Ah... you noticed that..." Balthazar said quietly, "Well I guess there's no point hiding it from you... but... if I tell you this, you cannot under any circumstances tell _mei-mei _about this. Promise me that you won't say anything to Aurora." He knew that he could trust Castiel, even if it involved not telling Aurora about anything.

"You have my word Balthazar..." Castiel said without hesitance, he knew that Balthazar would never request such a thing if it were not important and being old friends, they always trusted each other with everything.

"Good." Balthazar smiled a little, and then proceeded to remove the slip of paper he had taken from Sophia's desk the previous night and handed it over to Castiel.

"This certainly changes things doesn't it?" Castiel commented as soon as he read what was written there. "What are you going to do about it?" He asked Balthazar.

"I honestly am not sure Cas... I feel like I'm in two minds about this; I mean now that I know that Sophia and I are meant to be together, it would be the greatest thing if we were bonded today itself, but I know that she still needs some time so I will give her time and space..." Balthazar had given a lot of thought into this matter.

"Will you tell her what you have found?" Castiel asked the most important question that needed to be answered.

"I will... but only after I tell her how I feel. You don't know how good this feels Cas! I can finally be with Sophia after all these years and now that I know we were always meant to be together, it just makes things even better!" Balthazar was truly ecstatic, he had complete faith that he and Sophia were destined soul-mates, ever since the day they met each other and he had fallen in love with her.

"Alright, so when will you tell her? Tomorrow is the day before the fight... do you think that it is the right time?" His and Aurora's plan revolved around a lot of factors, each one equally important than the next.

"I don't know... I mean, I guess I could... but then maybe its better to wait until after we've won the fight?" Balthazar suddenly seemed a little nervous.

"If you needed my opinion, I would tell you that the sooner you tell Sophia that you love her, it will be better. She definitely has some feelings for you, and if we win the fight on Monday then you will have more reason to celebrate." Castiel suggested.

"Hmm... you do have a point there Cas... anyway, I'll see what to do about Sophia later... should we go downstairs and join Aurora and the others?" Balthazar was already feeling less confused now that he had spoken to Castiel.

As the two angels made their way out of Balthazar's room, the very person who had been the subject of their conversation happened to be exiting her room as well and fortunately happened to bump into Balthazar who reached out and grabbed her waist before she fell. Miraculously, Castiel had vanished at that very second, leaving Sophia alone in Balthazar's arms.

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**Reviews?**


	66. Chapter 65

**Thank You Reviewers! Valeskathesilverwolf, joyceeluna and minaghostwolf! **Without further delay, here is your next chapter! ^_^

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For a moment, it seemed as if time had frozen, leaving Balthazar to gaze down at Sophia who had already buried her head in his neck out of the fact that she was blushing terribly. Balthazar couldn't help but smile a genuine smile as he waited patiently for the woman in his arms to raise her head.

"Well, well... I believe it is quite a coincidence don't you think?" He said softly, "After all, this is the third time we've bumped into each other already. Some would say its destiny." Balthazar decided not to say anything to Sophia just yet but couldn't help himself as he said that.

Hearing the word 'destiny' made Sophia snap her head to look at Balthazar with a surprised look on her face and realizing that she was still in his arms, she immediately took a step away from him. Not knowing what to say, Sophia merely kept her eyes from wandering over Balthazar's face as she calmed her nerves down.

"I... I was headed to meet Aurora." She finally spoke up, avoiding Balthazar's gaze; she didn't know why she suddenly felt a little on the edge hearing him mention destiny helping them meet each other every time.

"Ah, my dear sister isn't in her room..." Balthazar told Sophia, appearing not to notice her sudden discomfort, "She's preparing breakfast for our human friends... I was on my way downstairs... do you... want to join me?" A little hesitantly, he held out his hand for Sophia.

A moment of silence passed between them during which Sophia continued to wonder why she had reacted in such a shocked manner while Balthazar stood not more than five feet away from her, studying her features, well aware of what she was experiencing at that moment; he knew very well that Sophia still did not understand her feelings for him and instead of pulling her close, Balthazar was willing to let the archangel find her own way to him.

"Alright." Sophia replied softly as she took hold of Balthazar's outstretched hand and allowed him to walk her downstairs.

With every step that they took, Sophia could feel her heartbeat quickening in its pace, this was something she was still getting used to adjusting but had already resigned herself to the truth that her heart would behave erratically whenever she was close to Balthazar. The one thing that Sophia did not expect was for her to feel... comfortable and a sense of peacefulness. They were merely stirrings within her and yet for the archangel, it was a wonderful thing; having these feelings of peace and security, Sophia had not experienced anything like this in a very long time. She knew that there had been other men in her life previously and just like with them, the same kind of emotion arose inside of her now that she was simply walking down a staircase with Balthazar.

"_Erik, Carlos, Robert... Could they all have been the same person? Could they have been... Balthazar?" _Sophia found herself questioning those thoughts once again.

"You seem awfully quiet my dear, are you alright?" Balthazar tried to lighten the mood as he spoke in a French accent.

"Its nothing... I'm fine... really." Sophia answered him, unable to hide the tiny giggle that she had burst into on hearing him speak.

"I think that there is something on your mind." The sudden seriousness in his voice caused Sophia to stare at him in surprise. "You're worried about what's coming... in two days aren't you?" Balthazar spoke before Sophia even had a chance to say anything.

"How... what... what makes you say that?" Sophia felt herself caught unawares, though it was not entirely wrong, she was taken aback that Balthazar could recognize one of the many fears playing on her mind.

"Just a hunch..." He said, "That, as well as the fact that you stepped back from Aurora's team and put me in as your replacement, for which I'm grateful to you because it would have killed me if I wasn't there with her. I know you don't want any more fighting but this is the last one, we win this and there will not be another fight again." Balthazar knew that Sophia was worried and had good reason to be, but there was a strong hope of victory for them.

"I wish I could believe that." Sophia spoke softly, almost in a whisper but it did not go unheard by Balthazar.

"If you don't believe in it, then you can at least try to believe in me." He told her, wondering whether he was suddenly taking things too quickly.

"I already do... I trust you, I have faith in you and I believe that you will do a much better job at protecting Auora than I ever could." Saying this, Sophia looked up into Balthazar's face and met his gaze with a smile.

"With a lady so charming as you my dear Sophia, who bestows even more charming compliments on every one of us, then you have no need to worry. We will be victorious and for an eternity after, we shall celebrate!" He grinned while glancing sideways to see Sophia burst into laughter once again.

Balthazar was glad as soon as he saw the bright beaming smile grow on Sophia's lips and spread over her face until it lit up her eyes as well; there was nothing more he wanted than to keep Sophia happy at all times and knowing that he had a hand in it was merely a bonus. They had finally reached the kitchen where another slightly hilarious sight met their eyes; everyone except for Castiel and Aurora was fighting over who would clean up the food and do the dishes, it was a little strange for the angels to see their friends arguing about something so tiny but amusing as well.

"Guys!" Aurora tried to get everybody's attention as she raised her voice by a decibel or ten. "Listen up! Training starts in fifteen minutes! I need all of you in the den at this very _second_!" Her loud voice was strong enough to crack the glass in the kitchen, but fortunately, nothing of the sort happened.

"We'll be there in a few minutes Aurora... just let us help out this one time." Dean was trying to explain to his younger sister that he and Sam could be of assistance.

Help out as much as you want to after we're done ending the Apocalypse Dean! In fact, I'll make you our official house-keeper alright? But please... stop acting like you're high again and come to the den..." Aurora sighed, she had been enjoying the morning with Castiel until Dean and Sam had started behaving a little too helpful, demanding that they be the ones to clear up after breakfast.

"But..." Dean started to protest, thinking if he should play the older brother card on Aurora or not, but it was no use, she was not going to listen to anything he had to say.

"Dean, Sam. Den. Now. Please." Aurora wasn't angry with her brothers, they hadn't done anything, she just needed them and the others to get started with their training. This was their last day and everything had to be impeccable.

"Why don't we all go to the den and leave the dishes for now?" Sophia suggested, speaking up for the first time since she and Balthazar had entered the kitchen. "I'm sure there won't be any problem... I have no objection to the house getting a little dirty sometimes... its become a little too clean since we all have moved in here don't you think?" She was perfectly fine with leaving her own house messy for an hour or two but didn't understand how no one else was.

"Actually, I already am halfway through cleaning up the kitchen..." Hannah called out softly from behind the group, she was standing against the sink with a pile of dishes already stacked up. "I figured since I won't be training with you all, it would be a good thing to tidy up."

"When did you start the dishes Hannah?" Ellen looked surprised at the young woman in front of her, noticing similar tendencies of herself in Hannah.

"While Dean and Aurora were... talking." Hannah answered, trying to keep a straight face.

"Let me help you out..." The older woman said as she walked over to the sink, "Boys..." Ellen said to Dean and Sam, "Listen to your sister sometimes will you? Its time you start training, I'll make sure to hire you both as our new house-keepers like Aurora said." Grinning, she began to help Hannah.

"You heard the lady!" Bobby shouted at Dean and Sam, "C'mon... to the den with you idjits! Acting like a pair of sissy's, shall I get you boys some stiletto's to go with your new aprons?" He asked sarcastically, though his face was dead serious.

Bobby's words made everyone in the room burst out laughing and less than five minutes later, Dean and Sam had quietly agreed to begin their training session. The time for fun and jokes was over for the day, it was time that they all went back to what they did best, fighting. The den was already prepared with training mats laid across the floor while the furniture had been emptied out into the hall; there was a table with knives and daggers alike, as well as the hunters' respective shooting weapons on another table. Aurora stood separately from the group, in front of them, ready to begin their session.

"Now that we all are here and ready to begin, I'll explain the various things that we will be working on for the rest of the morning. As you can see that I've collected your guns and rifles, it means that the training will also include target-shooting. This is not part of our morning training, but during the afternoon session. For now, there are two main lessons which are our focus – speed and defense." She paused then, to allow everyone a minute to understand the necessity of the morning's fight.

Aurora had easily slipped into her warrior-angel mode and was confident that everyone else also was set to start, and so she went on with the explanation.

"Right, so speed or rather agility is what we'll start with first. The fight is mostly going to take place between Lucifer and myself which means that not only do I have to be fast, but I have to make sure that my strength does not falter until the very end..." Aurora told everyone, "In order to test that, I've come up with the idea of continuous attacks... which means that every one of you is going to try and tire me as we fight, but instead of taking breaks in between, as soon as one person is done, the next will come up and keep up the chain of fighting. Any questions?" She asked, as she finished speaking.

"I just want to make sure I've got this understood properly," Sam said as he came forward, "You want us to fight you one after the other until you're tired?" He didn't sound too pleased with the idea but wasn't completely against it either; it made sense that Aurora needed to see if her energy would hold against Lucifer's.

"Yes. None of us know how long the fight is going to last... it might take minutes or even hours, and for that I need to be prepared to face anything." Aurora told Sam.

"Okay then... how are we going to go about this?" Sam asked her, knowing that there was no need for any more questions and that Dean was actually impressed by this idea.

"Its simple really, just line up yourselves in any order and we'll begin." Aurora replied and was about to take up a weapon when a voice suddenly spoke up.

"Wait." It was Castiel, "You should let the strongest fighter take the first chance... I mean, apart from the three of us." He said, indicating himself, Balthazar and Sophia. "That way it will become more challenging."

"Castiel does have a point." This time it was Chuck who spoke, "I think that whoever is the strongest fighter in the group should go first... Lucifer himself is very powerful and we should not only concentrate on matching his energy levels but his strength as well."

"It makes sense." Jo agreed as she sat down on a mattress, "I'm definitely going last, which means that Sam has to go first." She added.

"Whoa! What do you mean by that Jo? Why do I have to go first?" Sam was confused, he had thought his turn would come after Dean, the obvious fighter who would be facing Aurora first.

"We have to go in order of strength Sammy, not in order of who is the better hunter overall." Dean smirked as he clapped his brother on the back before going to sit down next to Jo.

"Ha-ha... very funny Dean." Sam rolled his eyes but decided to go first anyway. "I guess I'm up." He said to Aurora.

"Okay, so let's begin. Shall we?" Aurora gestured to the array of weapons for Sam to choose from.

Once Sam had chosen a long dagger and was positioned opposite Aurora, Chuck who had been picked as their 'referee' signaled for the training to commence. Over the next several minutes, the two of them attacked each other while parrying successive blows with equal precisiveness; Sam was indeed a strong fighter for nearly quarter of an hour later he had barely broken sweat.

He and Aurora continued their training for a few more minutes following which there was only a five second gap between Sam laying down his weapon and allowing Dean to take over his place. For the next hour, Dean trained with Aurora and after him, Bobby took his place, then came Ellen who had entered the den along with Hannah during the fighting and lastly was Jo. It was only 9 am when they broke for a breather and Aurora finally got a chance to rest herself.

"How are you holding up m_ei-mei?_" Balthazar asked as he knelt in front of her, looking concerned; Aurora seemed fine but had closed both her eyes and was breathing a little heavily.

"I'm good Balthazar... don't worry." Aurora told him as she opened her eyes and smiled at her brother, "This is going much better than I had expected, I think we can move on to the second phase." She said as she stood back up and flexed her arms.

"The second phase?" Jo wondered if they were going to resume training so soon, it had barely been ten minutes since she had plopped down on the mattress, or rather had sat upright with her back to a sofa with Dean laying his head on her lap.

"She means with us." Sophia explained to Jo as she stood up from the sofa where she was sitting and had observed the earlier fights amongst Aurora and the others. "The three of us are going to train with Aurora now." For an archangel who did not like fighting a lot, Sophia knew that she had to take on the role of Aurora's teacher once more and was prepared for it this time.

"Wow... so how long will this last?" Jo seemed curious and intrigued to watch this.

It would definitely take a long time for an angel to get tired from fighting another angel and Aurora had to face three of them, Castiel, Sophia and Balthazar one after the other.

"Probably till noon." Balthazar said, "We're going to take an hour each, just practice every single move that we know with Aura... like the old times." He added with a wink.

"So who's the stronger fighter amongst the three of you?" Dean wanted to see if the angels would follow the same routine that they had.

"We're all pretty equal in many ways Dean... except for the fact that Sophia is an archangel and _mei-mei's _the second most powerful fighter after Michael..." Balthazar said with a grin, "So I guess we're just going to take turns." He told him.

"This is definitely going to be interesting to watch, Aurora vs. Three angels." Sam muttered under his breath from his place next to Jo.

"Trust me, you have no idea how it gets when they fight each other in pairs... especially Balthazar and Sophia." Hannah whispered to Sam, she was casually resting her head against his shoulder while he had draped an arm around her.

"Really? So does everyone know about those two except they themselves?" Sam whispered back to Hannah, "It is that obvious, isn't it?" He asked her.

"Of course it is... Aurora's going to try and help them out tomorrow night and she needs us to help the two couples get together." Hannah told Sam.

"Two couples? Who else is there?" Sam didn't catch on to Hannah's meaning until he felt her gaze on him and he turned to see her staring at him.

"Dean and Jo obviously silly!" She replied as she broke away from his dazzling hazel green eyes and turned to watch Aurora begin her routine with Sophia first.

"Oh right..." Sam said softly, his voice trailing off but luckily Hannah didn't notice anything.

For a minute, the youngest Winchester's thoughts strayed from his brother and Jo to Aurora's supposed 'plan' to get them together. Knowing his sister, Sam was sure that she had definitely thought of everything and before he knew it, he found himself smiling; it was about time that Dean and Jo got their feelings out in the open, it was long overdue. Besides that, Sam recalled that the bet between him, Ellen, Bobby and Castiel was still not over – would Dean be the first one or would Jo? Just then, Sam felt Hannah shift a little closer to him and suddenly a new thought came to his mind.

"_What if Aurora's planned something for me as well?" _Sam also knew that Aurora was capable of pairing every single one of them together and would not miss out on a chance to help her own brother. _"Is Aurora going to do something about me and Hannah?"_

But even as this second thought crossed Sam, he didn't let it linger for too long because he already knew what he needed and she was laying next to him at this very moment. Sam smiled as he focused his attention to Aurora and Sophia's training while not letting go of his hold around Hannah.

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**The training has begun! Sam has strong feelings for Hannah! Reviews! ^_^**


	67. Chapter 66

**The chapter is finally here! Sorry about the delay everyone, a quick Thanks! to my reviewers, **valeskathesilverwolf, minaghostwolf, joyceeluna, sara1988 and minty badger. **By the way, if anyone is interested, I've posted a new fanfic, its just a one-shot drabble I came up with for x'mas. An A/U pairing of Cas/Jo again.**

**A/N:** A special message to **Joyceeluna**, there's a glimpse of Aurora's plans for the couples in this chapter! ^_^

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Over the next three hours, Aurora trained with Sophia followed by Castiel and finally with Balthazar. The clock in the den had just struck noon when the last strike from Aurora, a particularly difficult one, almost closed in on Balthazar but he was lucky enough to swiftly deflect the attack. With that, the first half of their training was complete.

"I think that went very well, don't you think?" Balthazar mused as he slid his angel sword inside his jacket and held out his hand to Aurora.

"Yes, very well indeed." Aurora replied with a smile as she took his hand and stood up, shaking her head. "We're done for now so I guess we should probably freshen up and meet back for lunch in half an hour."

"Aurora..." Sam called out to his sister just then, "Dean and I were actually thinking of something different... for lunch." He said to her.

"Yea, I mean its our second last day before the big fight so Sammy figured why not take a break from everything and head out to eat?" Dean elaborated as he grinned, hoping it would help convince Aurora.

"Exactly! You know, Hannah's been really busy in the kitchen since yesterday and she's taking care of the house... plus she said that it would be a welcome feeling to get some fresh air in us, we have been cooped up inside the house since so many days now." Sam couldn't stop his tiny rambling and didn't realize when he dragged Hannah's name into this.

It took Aurora only a second to catch on what was really going on between the two brothers and after exchanging a knowing look with Castiel, she giggled and just nodded her head.

"Alright, I guess the plan is to eat out." She told everyone. "Meet back here in fifteen minutes, we'll all take three cars and go to a restaurant for lunch." Aurora suggested, "I suppose you two know what's good around here?" This was directed towards Dean and Sam.

"Not really... we thought that Sophia might know of a nice place to eat... since she's lived in this town for so many years now... right?" Sam said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head, having just realized that he had spoken Hannah's name out loud.

"Yes, you are right Sam." Sophia told him as she tried not to let her wide smile turn into a laugh, "I know just the place for us."

"Where?" Dean asked her eagerly, looking hopeful. He didn't want to go through another day of salads and grilled food.

"Ah, well if you want to know that Dean... then you're going to have to wait a little longer." There was a twinkle in her eyes as she spoke.

"C'mon Dean..." Sam had to drag his brother out of the den, "Let's go and get ready. We'll meet you all back here in fifteen." He told the others, who weren't doing a very good job of hiding their laughter.

"We should go get ready too." Ellen said to Bobby and Jo as she started to usher her daughter upstairs.

"Alright, see you all in a few minutes." Aurora called out to the others as they headed to change for lunch.

An hour later, at the Biggerson's restaurant in Caulmet the angels and hunters alike had decided to spend their lunch time in small groups so as to attract less attention; Bobby, Ellen and Chuck were seated at one table, Aurora and Castiel with Sam and Hannah while Balthazar and Sophia sat with Dean and Jo. They were all spread out across the room and yet knew that they could manage to handle an attack if there was one. At Aurora's table, she had already begun discussing her plans for the next day which mainly involved her idea for the two couples who were sitting together a few tables away.

"Aura... you are not going to let this play out on its own are you?" Castiel said with a sigh, it wasn't that he disagreed with Aurora's plans, rather he was cautious of them going haywire.

"Relax Cas, I know that if we do everything right then we can finally get Balthazar and Sophia alone together!" Aurora squeezed his hand to reassure him. "Trust me... its about time they talk to each other about their feelings."

"We get that Aurora, but how are you planning on getting them to do that?" Sam asked his sister, thankful that she was sitting next to him while Hannah was opposite him.

"Its simple really, all we need is Hannah to help us with the main task involving Balthazar and after that I'm going to get Sophia into the same room, mostly the library and there they'll finally sit down and after talking things out, chances are they might even confess their feelings for each other." Aurora explained her plan.

"Wait a minute... why do I have the main task of Balthazar?" Hannah sounded a little nervous, she was just beginning to feel comfortable around Castiel and now it was her turn to help Balthazar out.

"Because its the only way he won't suspect anything fishy... and besides, you don't have to do anything except for pass a message saying that Sophia is waiting for him in the library." Aurora knew why Hannah seemed a little reluctant but also knew that her friend should get used to being around the other angels as well.

"I suppose I don't have a choice, do I?" Hannah said softly as she fidgeted with her salad, not paying attention to it.

"I would not worry if I were you Hannah, Aurora knows what she's doing... and Balthazar is not really an intimidating angel." Castiel tried to make Hannah feel better about the role she was going to play tomorrow night.

"Okay... I guess I can do this much," Hannah said slowly. "I mean it is only one message right?" She even managed a smile.

"Exactly! You'll be fine Han..." Aurora tried not to get too enthusiastic, Balthazar was in hearing range. "And if you want, Sammy can even be with you... that way it won't seem so scary when talking to Balthazar."

"Me?" Sam said surprisedly, not sure how that sounded out loud, "I... I thought I was helping you with Dean and Jo." He reminded Aurora, knowing that she was trying to get him alone with Hannah as well.

"Oh, yes... I forgot about that for a moment... right, well I actually could use either your help Sammy or Cas... one of you needs to talk to Dean and get him to stop making excuses and tell Jo that he loves her once and for all." Aurora felt nice knowing that she was going to be helping two of her brothers finally get together with the women they loved.

"Are you sure that your plans will go the way they are supposed to, Aura?" Castiel asked her.

"Of course not Cas! Anything can go wrong, I'm not saying that these are foolproof plans, we'll have to add some details tonight... but the main thing is that I do know for sure that they will work out." Aurora replied honestly.

Little did Aurora know that her words would prove to be true the next night, the chances that her plans would go smoothly were less than slim and she wasn't the only one trying to help two couples get together, Destiny was also a large part of the plan and with a bit of luck, Balthazar and Sophia as well as Dean and Jo could easily fall in together in a completely different manner.

Once lunch was over, the three groups waited for a couple of minutes between them leaving the restaurant and headed home in their respective cars. Now that they had rested and fed themselves, it was time everyone went back to their routine training session for the afternoon. As soon as they all were gathered in the den, the second half of the training commenced.

"Right, so we finished practicing strength and endurance which leaves defense..." Aurora had easily slipped back into her serious mode for the afternoon, "Instead of fighting the way we did in the morning, I'd like to have two of you come in pairs and train with me simultaneously... we don't know for sure if Lucifer is going to be alone or will Crowley and his demons be there as well."

"What about the horsemen?" Ellen suddenly asked, a little surprised that none of them had thought about this earlier.

"There hasn't been any news of a disaster striking any country or city so far." Bobby commented as he flipped a knife back and forth, "That doesn't mean they won't be planning something... the horsemen have their rings again so anything's possible." He added.

"Is there a chance that they could be there with Lucifer at the cemetery?" Sam looked towards Chuck who shook his head.

"If they are planning to be there, I haven't seen anything new. The last vision I had was only helpful in giving us the day, time and place. Its a pity they don't come when I need them." The prophet told everyone looking a little grim.

"Even if the horsemen are there, we'll be ready for them." Aurora said with certainty, "I think that once we finish training then we can take on the four horsemen and Lucifer himself."

"Couldn't have said it better myself sis!" Balthazar grinned as he grabbed a long staff and twirled it in his hands, "Let's get to it then."

And so, everyone paired off in groups of two as they began to train with Aurora. The idea of fighting two people against one at the same time was a good idea because it helped to increase her strength and her fighting abilities as well. Dean and Sam were the first to train with Aurora, followed by Sophia and Jo, Balthazar and Castiel finishing off the training nearly an hour later.

"You know what I think?" Balthazar groaned as he lay on his back, having missed a quick attack from Aurora's staff which had resulted in his fall, "_Mei-mei_ is definitely ready to fight an army of warrior demons let alone the Devil himself. I'm sure the fight against Lucifer isn't going to be that long."

Hearing him say that, Aurora couldn't help but laugh as she held out her hand for Balthazar, she knew it was a good thing he still kept the situation as light as he possibly could whenever the chance arose.

"Yes I think Aurora is more than prepared to face off against Lucifer... and while you all have been training with her, I think it would be a wise idea for some individual training as well." Sophia said as a matter of factly, "Dean, you, Cas and Balthazar need to be equally ready to go up against any kind of danger."

"I believe you are right Sophia, we should also train ourselves as much as we can manage before night fall." This agreement came from Castiel who knew that if he had to protect Aurora in any way possible, then he would have to be prepared for anything.

"You know what will help us more? If we each had a partner to train with, a one on one training for everyone." Balthazar couldn't help himself, knowing he had a chance to train with Sophia once again.

"I think that's a good idea, in fact, if it is not too much of a problem, then Hannah can help you'll out as well." Ellen was the one who spoke up, "We don't need to get in your way of training so I think its best if the three of us go and get some quiet time." She was of course, referring to Bobby, Chuck and herself.

"Umm... I don't really know much about fighting with knives and swords." Hannah suddenly said out loud.

"Don't worry about that Hannah, we're here to help you train. In fact, since I won't be going with Aurora and the others, I'm free right now." Sam obviously decided that this was the best time to jump in and volunteer to help Hannah.

While everyone was planning the next phase of their training, Aurora was silent as she thought about her strategy for the fight; Chuck had told her that his vision also included Sam, who was going to be part of the group but so far she hadn't mentioned this tiny detail to anyone yet.

"Aura... what is it?" Castiel was standing next to Aurora and had noticed her sudden lapse into silence, immediately understanding that something was worrying her.

"Its nothing really Cas..." Aurora knew she should talk to him about this before she told anyone else.

"If you need to talk somewhere... quieter?" He knew that it was all he had to say for Aurora to listen to him.

Instead of saying anything, Aurora simply nodded and took Castiel's hand in hers, ready to slip away from the group who had already begun their training. Ironically the partners who were paired up with each other were the same pairs whom Aurora was planning on getting together the following night – Balthazar with Sophia, Dean with Jo and Sam with Hannah.

"Cas... you're seeing what I'm seeing right?" Aurora suddenly turned to face him as a smile started growing on her face.

"Yes, but what are you planning to do?" Castiel knew that the cogs were turning around in Aurora's mind as she began to think of ideas.

"Hmm. I'm not sure... I think its time I help Sammy out a little bit don't you think? I mean I could do something for Balthazar and Dean too, but first things first, my baby brother needs a little push in the right direction as well." Saying so Aurora smiled brightly as she decided to use a simple Enochian spell to help her brother.

While Aurora was planning to work a spell on Sam and Hannah, the youngest Winchester was busy teaching her the basics of fighting with a weapon. For safety sake, he had chosen to use two small daggers which were blunt edged, they were the perfect choice to train someone who didn't know a thing about fighting.

"Hannah, you're going to have to relax your nerves a little bit more if you want to make your first attack." Sam couldn't help but be a little amused seeing her current state.

"I know that... I'm just... I don't want to hit anyone." Hannah was about to say 'you' but thought it was best to say 'anyone'.

"Don't worry, even if you send the dagger flying into Dean's chest, nothing will happen. The blades are literally blunt, its as good as a toy knife." He knew that this was going to be an interesting training session.

"Okay, here goes nothing then." Hannah raised the dagger and was about to strike Sam when he caught hold of her hand mid-way.

"See, here lies the main problem... its the way you're holding the dagger, don't clutch it so tightly, losen your grip on it and grasp it from the side of the handle like this." He used his hand to position hers in the correct way, noticing that she started to redden a little.

"Alright... so now I try to stab you again?" Hannah didn't understand why she was suddenly feeling flustered, but when she felt Sam's fingers over her own, it seemed as if a spark ignited within her.

"Yes. That is the idea." Sam smirked as he stepped a few feet away from her, well aware of the affect he was having on Hannah.

Just before Hannah was about to make her move again, Aurora worked her charm and as soon as the angel gently snapped her fingers, the rug near her best friend happened to rise up a little which caused Hannah to trip slightly and fall straight into Sam's arms.

"That was pretty impressive don't you think Cas?" Aurora couldn't stop her beaming smile from widening as she silently grabbed on to his hand and started to slip out of the den before anyone realized what had happened.

Castiel was at a loss of words, he wasn't sure what he should say to Aurora, but knowing how the two of them were together, he knew that even a single smile would be enough to tell her that as long as her plans worked in her favor then there was no reason not to think her ideas weren't impressive.

"Do you still need to talk about whatever it is that is worrying you?" He asked her as he led her out of the room, leaving Dean and the others to attend to Hannah, who had gotten to her feet by then with Sam's help.

Aurora simply nodded and glancing back one last time, she couldn't help but smile a perfect smile when she saw that Sam was definitely aware of his feelings for Hannah but now she could see that it was her friend who needed the nudging. The two of them stood awkwardly next to each other as Dean and Jo hovered around them trying to figure out what had happened. Once the two angels were at a safe place away from the den, Aurora decided it was best if she spoke to Castiel now.

Taking a hold of his hand she got straight to the point, "There's something I need to talk to you about... its been on my mind for a while now but I never got a chance to bring it up... actually, I didn't know how to say..." Aurora stopped for a second, remembering Chuck's words to her.

"_One of you will sacrifice your life for the other... either Sam will do it to save you or you will, to save him."_

Castiel sensed Aurora's sudden hesitance and knew that whatever was playing on Aurora's mind was clearly affecting her. He took both of her hands in his and using one hand he lifted her chin so that they were eye to eye.

"Aura... you know that I am always there for you, no matter what happens... nothing is going to change that. Whatever is on your mind, you can tell me." He gazed into her eyes and hoped that she would find the courage to open up to him.

"I do know that Cas... which is why I haven't told anyone about this yet... Chuck is the only one who knows because it has something to do with a vision he had." Aurora sighed deeply and closed her eyes for a second.

"What was the vision about?" Castiel asked her softly as he touched her cheek gently, causing her eyes to flutter open again and show the worry in them but she quickly glanced down.

"It was about the fight..." Aurora started to say, "Chuck told me that... he saw Sammy with us as well." She saw Castiel surprised look, but took his silence as a sign to go ahead, "He also said... Chuck said... that... One of us might sacrifice our life to save the other." There. She finally said it.

For a moment Aurora was tempted to shut her eyes again, she wasn't sure if she wanted to look at Castiel just then.

"I see." The first words that left his mouth were calm and not at all angry sounding in any way nor did it seem as if he was upset.

"Cas?" Aurora looked back up at him and noticed the grimness on his face, she wasn't sure how he was going to react.

"I am not mad Aura... simply a little more concerned than I was before, but don't worry I will not let you or Sam get hurt in any way possible." Castiel told her, "Its going to be all right... you don't have to tell everyone else about this... just say that you need Sam with you as well." He knew that if Chuck had seen Sam with Aurora then somehow he would end up at Stull Cemetery on Monday, it was safer if he went with them.

"Okay..." Aurora said softly and couldn't help but sniffle, "Honestly, I don't know how I've become so emotional suddenly... I guess I've been a human for so long that I'm just overflowing with emotions all the time."

"I quite like the way you are... if there's one important thing I have learned staying with Dean and Sam, its that family is the main and the most important aspect in life. You're worried for your brothers and it is normal to feel a little worried." Castiel reassured her.

"You're probably right... and I know I shouldn't worry so much, not when I have you and Balthazar with me." Aurora felt lighter and more relieved now.

"True. Why don't we leave all this worrying aside and see how Sam and Hannah are doing now?" Castiel asked her as he smiled, knowing that Aurora was feeling better already.

"Oh! I _cannot_ believe I forgot about them! We have to go over the details for the fight on Monday as well. We should finish that before dinner time so that we can discuss tomorrow's plan of action once we're free." Aurora's smile had returned to her face where it belonged as she and Castiel headed back towards the den.

Aurora knew that there wouldn't be more time to spend with Castiel and her family once Monday came around, and even after the fight there would be a lot of other important issues they would have to deal with, namely Crowley and perhaps the horsemen as well; the time was limited and she realized that tonight and the next day were the only two days left for everyone to have a normal life, though it seemed like a dream, it was definitely real.

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**Phew! No cliffy this time! Reviews? ^_^**


	68. Author's Note II

Hey everyone, its time for another A/N and like most Author's Notes, this one isn't that great at all... I have some bad and sad news for everyone; the fanfic is going on hiatus for a few months starting from now. I know I was supposed to post the next chapter over the weekend but college has become so busy and really hectic that I don't have enough time to do justice to the chapters... I have two major final exams coming up next month and in April, gotta prepare for them and until they begin, I've got half a dozen assignments and projects to submit everyday.

This is just a temporary goodbye, I'll still be around so if anyone wants to message me anytime you can count on me replying to you! Officially I don't know when I'll be back, but its mostly going to be around the 3rd week of May... it sucks because I was hoping to add a new chapter as part of the New Year beginning... but guess we'll have to wait until we reach the 5th month... I'm hoping that when I return with the new chapters, I'll be reading comments from all my lovely readers, **sara 1988, joyceeluna,** **valeskathesilverwolf, minaghostwolf, franz musni, stupid lamb wannabe,** my old readers and all my silent readers as well!

The bright side of this is that when I return with the fanfic, I'm also going to be free enough to work on another SPN fanfic that I'm currently planning! A tiny tidbit about the untitled fanfic – its going to be a story based on the actors, not characters... and about 4 fans who get a lucky chance to meet them! So I'll definitely be seeing you all in a few months! Thank you all once again! ^_^


	69. Chapter 67

**Hello hello everyone! I'm finally baaaaack! We're done with SPN s7 and left with another summer of Hellatus but not to worry, yours truly is free from studies at last and has all the time to continue writing this story once again! Currently staying in Redwood City, SF, I will be updating the story once a week, maybe twice... got my other writing to focus on as well! ^_^**

I'd like to THANK all my readers who have waited patiently and impatiently for the first chapter of 2012 to be posted - **Franz Musni, Valeskathesilverwolf, JoyceeLuna, Sara 1988, Minaghostwolf, Stupid Lamb Wannabe, The Mysterious Shadow, Heaven's Postman, MishaMinionArmy and the others. **Hope you all are still here reading this! Hehehe!

**A/N: **special shout out to **JoyceeLuna **again! - **I've explained your doubt about Chuck's visions and if they can change or not!**

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For the next half an hour or so, the group continued their training session albeit in a much more relaxed manner; Dean and Sam were more or less tackling each other with their knives while Balthazar was showing Jo how to handle an angel sword and Sophia was talking to Hannah about the different ways she could learn how to fight. Once Castiel and Aurora joined in, the rest of them decided that after one last round they would call it a night and head for dinner. After dinner was over, the group assembled in the library where they decided to go over the details and logistics of their plan.

"Here's the map of Lawrence that you asked for Aurora." Sam told his sister as he unfolded a long sheet across the table.

"Good. I don't really remember much of the area near where we stayed, what do you know about where the cemetery is located?" Aurora asked him, noticing that a few landmarks and routes had been traced beforehand.

"Sammy's already marked down the main location of the cemetery." Dean was the one who spoke up as he pointed to a black cross towards the center-right of the map. "Stull is the name of a town that's located in Douglas County. Its about 10 miles West from Lawrence and another 15 miles from Topeka." Saying so he pointed to two different routes that Sam had drawn for them.

"I think its safer if we go this way, through Lawrence." Balthazar said to the others as he traced the route with his finger, "What do you think Aurora?"

"Sounds good to me." Aurora nodded her head in agreement before she noticed Castiel signal to her that this was the perfect time to talk to everyone.

"Fine." Dean said as he rolled up the map and handed it to Jo, "That's one thing down, we also have to go through a couple of other things..." He was about to continue when Aurora intervened.

"I have to say something first... if you don't mind Dean." She looked a little hesitant, but knew she had to speak in front of everyone.

"Sure, go ahead... what is it?" Dean noticed a sudden change in his sister and looked a little worried. Aurora seemed tense.

He waved his hand for the others to sit down quietly and the atmosphere in the library changed immediately. The only person who was calm was Chuck, who had figured what Aurora planned to talk about.

"There's been a slight change in the plans again." Aurora got straight to the point and taking a deep sigh she went on, "I'm taking Sam with me on Monday." There. She had finally said it.

"Me?" Sam looked a little puzzled when he heard his name. He frowned, "Why do you want to take me when you said that its dangerous to be anywhere near Lucifer and if I'm with you guys at Stull Cemetery then..." He didn't know why Aurora had changed her mind.

"Yea Aura... don't you think Sammy will be safer if he stays behind? No offense Sam but we could handle Lucifer with three angels..." Dean said to his brother, clearly concerned for Sam's safety as well.

"I know I said that it'll be dangerous if Sam comes with us, but with him by our side it can also work in our favor. I don't know how exactly, but maybe we can trick Lucifer into giving us the rings." Aurora shook her head as she realized her plan was foolish and dangerous, "No. No, I'm not going to do that to you Sam..." She said herself before anyone else could protest.

"What Aurora is trying to say," Castiel came forward and placing his arms on her shoulders hoping to calm her down, "Is that there is a high probability that having Sam with us might work to our advantage."

"How?" Bobby asked, speaking for everyone else in the room. "What makes you think that the Devil ain't going to grab Sam and force him to become his meat suit?"

"We don't know that." This time the voice came from Chuck, he knew that he couldn't mention the details of his vision but telling them about Sam's presence was no harm. "I have seen Sam with Aurora, Dean, Castiel and Balthazar in my vision... He is going to be there at the final fight against Lucifer."

This revelation from Chuck seemed to get everyone's undivided attention; they were all on alert now. If Chuck had seen Sam in his vision then things were more serious than they had earlier assumed.

"What are you trying to say Chuck?" Dean asked the prophet, looking a little concerned by this new development, he was worried about Sam.

"I'm saying that Sam has to be there, at Stull Cemetery on Monday. And I think it would be safer if he goes with Aurora and the others... otherwise Lucifer could send Crowley after him at Bobby's house. I don't know how but Sam is important to this fight once again." Chuck was not going to say a word about the possible sacrifice.

"I thought your visions can change, Chuck. Or do they stay the same?" Ellen was the one to speak up now.

"They are not set in stone. Especially not these visions about the Apocalypse and the fight against Lucifer. For some reason they are much more difficult to see anything clearly, most of what I have seen is hazy and because of the strain, they're proving to be stronger visions. While the vision can change, I doubt that it will change so much as to not having Sam present there. That is one of the few things I'm sure about. His actions as well as everyone else's is dependent entirely upon the choices they make." Chuck explained, hoping that his words were understood.

"So... basically you're saying that I'm going to be there one way or the other?" Sam finally decided to say something. He didn't look disturbed by this fact, but neither was he completely calm.

"Yes." Chuck replied. He spared one glance and Aurora who nodded a silent thanks to him; he realized that this was hard for even the angels.

"Alright, well I guess I'm in then." Sam said with a sigh of relief, "At least now I don't have to think of a way to sneak to Lawrence on my own." He couldn't help smile knowing that he would be there to help Dean and Aurora.

"But... oh whatever." Dean grumbled as he realized that there was no point in trying to convince his brother or his sister otherwise. He resolved to let Sam come with them, and that was when he remembered something else. "Hey, we didn't get around to training with the guns."

"Where on earth are you gonna practice shooting boy?" Bobby looked at Dean surprisedly, "Its nearly 11 o'clock at night!" The perplexed expression on the older hunter's face clearly showed how serious he was. It sounded like a bad idea to him.

"Actually... there is a shooting range right here." Sophia spoke up softly, a smile playing on her lips, "In the basement. If you all want, then by all means, feel free to spend some time practicing downstairs." She waved her hand to the door in the library that led to the basement.

"Really?" Jo sounded amazed, "There's a shooting range _downstairs_?" She thought that was pretty cool.

"Yes, would you like me to show you all?" Sophia asked them, turning to Dean and Sam.

"Hell yeah!" Dean couldn't contain his excitement any longer, "At this rate, we'll definitely be able to take on Lucifer and his pawny Horsemen. This is definitely a much better plan than tricking them into giving us the rings in the first place."

Saying so, he grabbed his rifle that was laying on the sofa and was about to follow Sophia to the basement with Sam, Jo and Hannah behind him when Aurora suddenly stopped Sophia as she grabbed the archangel's hand.

"Sophia, come back upstairs as quickly as you can." Aurora whispered, softly enough that Balthazar and Castiel were barely able to make out her words.

The archangel looked at Aurora once, noticing that there was something the other angel wanted to discuss, it was as if something had just entered her mind. With a small nod, she took Dean and the others downstairs leaving Bobby and Chuck with the other angels. While she was gone, Aurora decided that it was best to speak of her plan; it had come to her the second she had heard Dean's words.

"_Mei-mei_, are you alright?" Balthazar reached out and took Aurora's hand in his; nothing was easy to hide from the angel you were bonded with.

"I'm fine Balthazar, in fact, I think I've finally found a way to gain an advantage over Lucifer. I remembered something when I heard Dean's comment about tricking the horsemen." She explained to him.

"It was not always tricking them Aura..." Cas told her as he recalled the incidents that had led to Sam and Dean recovering the rings. "Their lives were constantly in danger, even I almost succumbed to Famine's powers. It was not an easy battle to win." He tried not to remember too much about those few months, they weren't the best days any of them had experienced.

"Yes, I know that... Jo has told me everything, but Cas, don't you remember? If you had taken the rings at that time then now they will not be able to lend their powers properly to the horsemen. They will be weak and vulnerable. It will definitely take more than just a few days for them to regain their strength." Aurora was getting a little impatient, she needed Sophia to listen to her plan, to see if she could go through with it.

"Is that why we haven't heard of any horsemen attacks? Because they're not juiced up?" Bobby sounded surprised to hear this.

"What are you getting at Aurora?" Balthazar sounded a bit concerned for his sister now, there was the glint of something in her eyes; he knew that she had a plan.

"I think I know what we can do to ensure that we win the fight against Lucifer without having to worry about the fact that he has the keys to his cage." She told him.

"How are we going to go about sending him back to the pit then?" Bobby was looking at Aurora, wondering what the angel was thinking of.

"Its simple really, we just need one spell and that's that." Aurora simply said, "I will need your help with this, Bobby. You and Sophia can help me, I know that this will work."

"What is _this_ exactly?" Another female voice rang out, it was Sophia. She closed the door to the basement and walked over to Aurora, worried that she knew what her friend was planning.

"I think you already know what I mean Sophia. You know which spell I'm looking for, don't you?" Aurora exchanged a look with the archangel and waited for her to realize it.

It took Sophia a moment to understand that Aurora was indeed telling the truth and intended to go through with this plan of hers, they had discussed it earlier that day. She quietly agreed with the angel, even though she knew that this was very dangerous and would not work for sure, but it was a good chance to help take Lucifer down.

"Yes. Alright, I'll help you Aura..." Sophia replied softly, before turning to Bobby, "I will require your help Bobby. If you are upto this..."

"No one has said what this is." Bobby said firmly but not loudly, he was sure that Aurora had come up with a dangerous plan.

"Aura... tell us, what are you planning?" Castiel went to where she stood and gazed into her eyes, seeing the conviction in them, whatever she was thinking of doing, it wasn't going to change, he knew that.

Aurora stayed silent for a second, thinking about how she would say this... Dean and Sam were not there so there would be no protesting on their behalf, and she knew that Balthazar and Castiel would back her up, no matter how crazy the plan was. And so taking a deep breath she told them what she had decided to do. As soon as the words left her mouth, there was a deafening silence that enveloped the entire house; no one knew how to react to what Aurora had just said. Several long minutes dragged by and yet everyone stood where they were, not saying a word.

"Aurora..." It was Castiel who first decided to say something, "Do you think it is a wise choice to make?" He suddenly seemed worried, "I do not know if we should take such a risk... it is very dangerous."

"Dangerous? More like a suicide mission!" Bobby exclaimed, clearly not in favor of Aurora's decision, "We can't go about doing something so stupid like this! It'll get us all killed!"

"Its a desperate measure Bobby... one that needs to be made if we ever want a fighting chance against Lucifer." Aurora calmly replied, she hadn't expected everyone to agree with her.

"Do you think that going behind the Devil's back is a good idea Aurora?" Ellen asked, she was calm but anxious about this idea.

"What other choice do we have left? I gave away the rings to protect Sammy... this is the only way out." Aurora explained.

"Its a crazy idea _mei-mei_, but I think you're right... if this works out in our favor then we can finally get rid of Lucifer once and for all." Balthazar didn't look pleased to be agreeing with Aurora but logically he knew there was nothing else they could do.

"Thank you Balthazar." Aurora nodded in his direction before turning to Castiel, waiting for his answer.

The two of them locked gazes for a moment and in that span of few seconds, they said everything that needed to be said. And yet, Aurora needed to hear Castiel's choice. She was ready to back out if he wasn't willing to go through with her plan.

Castiel closed his eyes and thought about what Aurora was planning to do; it was definitely risky and dangerous, but if things worked out in their favor then not only would Aurora be safe from Lucifer but it would also mean that Dean and Sam would be unharmed too.

"I agree with Aurora." Castiel finally said, after taking a deep breath. His decision was made. "We can deal with this easier than anything else." He knew it could be done.

"Bobby? Ellen?" Aurora turned to the older hunters, she would not do this without their permission. "I know this is very dangerous and if you think that we don't have to go through with my idea then we won't. I promise you that." She was being honest.

"As long as nothing happens to Sam and Dean..." Ellen started to say but stopped herself.

"They will be safe. I won't let anyone hurt them." Aurora reassured her.

"Aren't you gonna tell them about what you're planning to do now?" Bobby asked her, trying to see if he could make out what Aurora was thinking.

"I want to tell them both, but knowing how stubborn they can be, they'll find a way to keep me from fighting Lucifer and take my place. I won't allow that. So no, I'm not telling them about what we're about to do. It will make them upset and a bit angry, but I'm doing it to keep them safe." Aurora replied. She hated going behind Dean and Sam's backs, but knew that there was no other way of finishing the task at hand.

"So its a secret then eh?" Bobby seemed fine with the idea of keeping Sam and Dean out of this for now, "I guess I'm in then. Let's get done with it before those idjits suddenly pop up."

In the midst of all this discussion, Sophia noticed that one member of their group had remained stoically silent while listening to their plans but not voicing his thoughts. The archangel decided that he too deserved a say in their plans.

"Chuck? You have not said anything about your thoughts. Do you think Aurora's plan will work?" She asked him, getting everyone's attention focused on the prophet when they heard Sophia talking to him.

"Me?" Chuck seemed surprised that Sophia was asking him about what he thought; he had found himself in the spotlight again and didn't know how to deal with it.

"Yes, you're the only person who isn't biased to any decision that's made Chuck," Aurora told him, "If anyone has the right answer to this, its you." It made sense to ask the prophet because then Aurora would know for certain if she was taking the right path.

"I... umm... well... I don't know what the right answer is... but... but I do see the logic behind your plan Aurora... and... I think that... if we do this then there might be some... some consequences to deal with at the end." Chuck answered, trying to sound rational.

"Ah yes, the consequences of what we are about to do might be tough to deal with... but not impossible." Sophia realized what Chuck was talking about.

"We'll deal with anything that comes afterwards together. Let's make sure that we get this done with soon. Bobby, I need you to help Sophia find everything that she's looking for; we already talked about the things required earlier so it shouldn't take long to find." Aurora immediately took charge of the situation.

"I'll take Ellen with me downstairs and keep Dean and Sam busy for a little while longer, try not to get them too suspicious." Balthazar offered, knowing that the lesser angels present the better.

"Alright, make sure you keep them stalled for at least 20 more minutes." Aurora told Balthazar as she waited with Castiel for Sophia and Bobby to return.

Less than 15 minutes later, the scene in the hall had shifted slightly; Aurora was standing in front of a table drawing a sigil in white chalk, Sophia was lighting the last of the candles on the opposite side of the table while Castiel had the job of crushing up something that looked like a chunk of rock. Once that was done, Bobby came over and emptied a bowl of herbs into the bowl; now there was only one ingredient left to be added.

"Sophia, I think I should be the one to do this." Aurora glanced up across the table to see her mentor and friend's face turn into a bit of a frown.

"This may have been your idea Aura, but I am an archangel and it will be easier for all of us if I handle it from here. I know you are very powerful but it will not work to your advantage." Sophia explained calmly.

"Sophia has a point Aurora..." Chuck said softly, "If we're going to be dealing with this kind of danger then knowing Sophia has the power and name of an archangel can help us."

"You're right, here... take this." Aurora picked up a small silver knife from the table and handed it to Sophia.

Quickly and yet carefully, Sophia took the knife and holding out her palm made a cut across her skin, wincing slightly as the drops of her blood fell into the bowl below. As soon as it was done, her hand began to heal itself. She nodded to Bobby who handed over a faded, ancient parchment on which the spell was written in red ink. It was time.

"_Te nunc invoco, mortem. Te in mea potestate. Defixi. Nunc et in aeternum_" Sophia's words echoed around the entire house as everyone waited with bated breaths to see if their plan had worked.

Unfortunately, as soon as the words had left Sophia's mouth, the library door swung open to reveal Dean and Sam who were laughing about something that had happened during training. They stopped suddenly when they saw what Aurora and Sophia had done but before either brother could say anything there was another voice that spoke up.

"Ah, of course... the Winchester brothers." It was a calm voice but one that sounded bored, "I should have expected it to be you two." He seemed angry but remain composed as he walked around the table and sat down in one of the chairs.

"Death." Dean whispered as he realized what he had feared was true; Aurora and Sophia had summoned the oldest and most powerful Horseman of Lucifer, Death.

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**Aaaaaand we return with another round of cliffhanger twists! So... how would you rate my return chapter from 1-10? 1 is the lowest, 10 is the highest! Reviews are always welcome! ^_^**

**P.S – **While this looks like something that is going to lead to a couple of action based chapters following this, I'm sorry to disappoint... the chapters after the next one will focus on the couples first and then we jump head first into the Apocalypse fight – Aurora vs. Lucifer!


	70. Chapter 68

**Hey readers! I am so very sorry for taking such a long hiatus, I had a terrible writer's block and couldn't get anything done in these 3-4 months, but good news is that I'm all better now and back to writing again! I even started my 2nd full-length fanfic based on 'The Vampire Diaries' so I'll be balancing both updates every week, alternating between them actually. I hope all my readers are still here, I'd like to thank my reviewers - **Stupid Lamb Wannabe, Joyceeluna** and **SilverHerron** for their support and patience as well as everyone else who remain my silent spectators! **

**A/N: **Joyceeluna** - Here's your answer to why Death has been summoned! Without further delay, I present the new chapter! ^_^**

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_"Death." Dean whispered as he realized what he had feared was true – Aurora and Sophia had summoned the oldest and most powerful Horseman of Lucifer, Death._

"What? No pickles this time?" The man was dressed in black and carried a walking cane with a silver top. "Pity. I do like the pickles you normally set aside Dean. Now I wonder, what am I going to do with you and your brother... we already had a deal."

"Leave Dean out of this. It wasn't him who summoned you." Sophia decided to break the monotonous speech of the new guest in her house.

"Summoned me? You mean imprisoned me!" He turned around to face Sophia and lifted his hands to show a glimmer of golden chains that had bound him. "Who dares to enslave Death?" He demanded.

"I am Pistis Sophia, Archangel of Wisdom and Love. It is I who have bound you Death. You may be Lucifer's slave but now you answer to me." The sudden change in Sophia's demeanor and tone surprised everyone standing in that room; her powers as an archangel were starting to show.

"An archangel? And why would someone like you imprison Death at a time when the Apocalypse is at hand?" He suddenly seemed curious to hear what Sophia had to say.

"Because the angels are going to battle with Lucifer, not Dean and Sam Winchester; whatever deal you had struck with them is no longer an option. If you wish to end the control that Lucifer has over you then you will help us." Sophia told Death.

"And why would I agree to something so foolish as this? There is no angel or archangel powerful enough to defeat Lucifer except for Michael, who currently is creating havoc in Heaven presumably while his vessel refuses to be of any use." Death seemed to be enjoying taunting Dean but surprisingly the older Winchester brother was completely unfazed by anything that the horseman said about him.

"Actually, there is another angel capable of defeating Lucifer." It was time Aurora revealed herself, "I am going to fight the Devil and I will be the one to send him back to his cage – all I ask is for your help." She hoped that she would be able to convince Death of her plan.

Hearing Aurora's words, Death turned to face her with a look of wonder crossing his features.

"Who are you to claim that an angel like you can defeat the Devil?" Death glanced at her but didn't notice anything special.

"I am Aurora, Angel of Dawn and I have been trained by none other than Michael to be as powerful as he is. If there is anyone apart from the archangel who can defeat Lucifer it is I." Even as she spoke, Aurora knew that there was only one thing she needed to tell Death which would convince him of her plan.

"Even if you have been trained by Michael himself that is not enough to fight against the Devil, you are no archangel and you do not have the power required." Death was getting bored now but still waited patiently to hear the angel out.

"Actually I do. I possess the one thing that neither Michael nor Lucifer have with them and that is what gives me the advantage – a winning chance." Aurora knew that she had to reveal her true identity to Death; it was a risky choice for even though they had been able to bind Death, his true alleigance to Lucifer was not unbroken.

"And pray, do tell what this secret item of yours is that you possess?" Death was curious now and decided to play along, not knowing what was coming.

"Winchester blood." Two words was all that Aurora needed to say and she knew that Death was on their side now.

As soon as the words left Aurora's lips, everyone was stunned to silence; they had not expected that she would reveal her identity to Death. It was dangerous, for if Lucifer figured out that Aurora was Ashley Winchester then it would make the fight much more difficult and challenging to win.

"You have Winchester blood?" Death repeated Aurora's words softly, "That is not possible, Dean and Sam are the only Winchesters alive. Their half-brother Adam Milligan is dead." He certainly hadn't expected such a revelation.

"It is possible because I am possessing the body of their dead sister, Ashley Winchester daughter of John and Mary Winchester; it makes me as strong as Michael and Lucifer would be if they possessed their true vessels." Aurora explained herself.

"Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events. Without Dean and Sam Winchester I do believe that Michael and Lucifer are weaker now and if you are a true Winchester then it is possible for you to be stronger and end the Apocalypse." Death seemed to be enjoying this.

As the oldest of the horsemen, he knew how fatal this revelation could be if Lucifer were to find out there was a third Winchester alive. Yet there was something about this angel that let Death decide to listen to what she had to offer.

"I know that I can, but we still require your help. There is only one sure way of defeating Lucifer and it is your rings." Aurora knew that once Death was aware of her true identity, it would be easy to get him to agree to her plan.

"Ah yes, the four horsemen rings form the keys to his cage. Forgive me if I'm not mistaken but I believed that you had the rings in your possession at one point. Now they have been returned to us." Saying so, Death lifted his hand to reveal the white ring on his finger. "I must say it was quite reckless of you to hand them back to Lucifer."

"I did it to save Sam and to rescue an innocent girl from getting caught in the middle of this war." Aurora started to say but was cut off by Death.

"Yes, yes I know the details... always worrying about the humans. I still fail to see how you are going to take the rings back from my brothers again." Again, the boredom started and Death was about to leave but gave Aurora a chance to reply.

"That is not the plan. I will not be taking the rings from the other horsemen, because _you_ will." Aurora finally played her card.

Hearing Aurora's plan, Sam couldn't remain silent any longer as he and Dean waited for this to end.

"Aurora, do you really expect one of our enemies to help us get rid of Lucifer? We can't trust him!" Sam exclaimed in surprise as he tried to make sense of what Aurora was planning to do.

"I do have to agree with Sam in this case," Death said before Dean could interrupt, "Why should I betray my own brothers and get the rings for you? And what makes you think that I will? I'm not that trustworthy."

Before Aurora could reply, Sophia decided that she was the one who needed to set certain terms for this deal.

"You may not be trustworthy but you are bound to an archangel now. And that means you will comply to everything I ask of you. If you get us the other horsemen's rings then I will set you free." Sophia hoped that Death would acquiesce. "The other horsemen do not have their full power yet and are not bound to Lucifer which should make it easy to retrieve the rings. As for a reason, we all know that you do not want to be under Lucifer's thumb any longer than you already have been. Let Aurora send him back to the cage and you will have your freedom once more, your powers are not tied to the ring."

Death seemed interested on hearing Sophia's proposition which she had laid out for him to consider.

"You make a good case Archangel, I suppose there is no harm in retrieving the rings once more and sending Lucifer back to his cage, but what guarantee do I have? The last person who promised that he would complete this task has failed." Death turned to Dean as he spoke, "Surely it is understandable if I say that I will not take your word for it." This was directed to Aurora.

"Name your condition and I will see to it that you have the proof you need to believe me that I will succeed." Aurora said without a moment's hesitation.

Before replying, Death removed his ring and twirled it around for a moment as if thinking over something.

"It is not possible for just Lucifer to be sent to the cage. There has to be another, that is the _only_ way to assure his capture. Someone has to be sacrificed in order for the world to survive, for Dean and Sam to survive. Two lives for the price of two. A balance, you see." Death smiled just then, it was his turn to put forth his proposition.

"Of course." Aurora had been expecting this and knew that she had to agree. "It will be done, you have my word."

"Ah, not your word. That isn't as valuable to me as your blood." Death couldn't help but let a smile form across his lips as he removed a scroll of parchment from his jacket. "A contract should do the trick. With a drop of angel blood." He added.

"No!" Dean yelled as he broke away from Balthazar's hold on his arm and ran over to where Aurora stood, "I won't let you do this Aurora! This isn't your fight. Don't do this to me and Sam. To Cas. Its suicide." He felt his heart breaking as he knew that Aurora wouldn't listen.

Without saying anything else and not looking behind her shoulder, Aurora picked up the knife and slit her palm.

"Cas! Do something! You can't let Aurora do this to herself. What's wrong with you? Sammy?" Dean tried to get his brother to listen to reason. "This is our fight. You and me, Michael vs. Lucifer. There's no need for Aurora to take our place. You know that." He looked heplessly at his younger brother for help.

"I do Dean. I know that but..." Sam faltered as he spoke, "You and I both know what will happen if we try and stop her don't you?"

They had discussed this earlier, having overheard Aurora's plan to lock them up separately if either one tried to intervene before or during the fight against Lucifer, with Castiel and Balthazar guarding them which would leave Aurora without any protection.

"Dean." Aurora called out to her older brother just as she raised her hand over the contract, "Trust me. I know what I'm doing." She smiled as the first drop of blood touched parchment.

It was too much for Dean to look at and he turned away from Aurora looking to Castiel for help but frowned in confusion when he saw his guardian was smiling as well. Before Dean could register what was happening he heard Death speak again.

"Well that's that then. It seems we have a deal now, Angel. I will give you the rings to Lucifer's cage and you... will sacrifice yourself to save the world. And as proof that I will keep my word, here is my ring." Saying so, Death handed over his ring to Aurora. "One down three to go."

Taking the contract from the table, Death grabbed his cane and without another word, he vanished into thin air. For several long seconds no one in the room dared to breathe until Sophia decided it was safe to break the silence.

"Did it work?" She asked Aurora, hoping that their plan had succeeded.

"Yes. Everything went according to plan." Aurora smiled as she noticed the cut on her hand healing. "There's nothing to worry about now."

"Aurora..." Sam started to say but before he could speak another word Dean cut him off.

"Nothing to worry about? What are you... you just signed a contract guaranteeing your death Aurora! How could you be so calm about this? And why didn't you stop her Cas? What is wrong with you?" Dean was angry now.

"Dean..." Bobby tried to reach out to him but was surprised when Dean brushed his hand off, but Bobby was having none of that. "Boy! Look at me!" Having raised his voice loud enough, the older hunter knew that he had Dean's attention now. "Didn't you hear what Sophia just said? The plan succeeded. We knew this was coming, this so-called suicide proposition from Death."

It took a minute for Dean to realize what Bobby had said and what it meant. As soon as he did, Sam realized what Bobby was talking about as well.

"You tricked Death." Sam said as he felt the relief flood him; Aurora's decision to kill herself was all part of a plan to trick Death.

"Wait a minute... you tricked Death? Is that what Bobby's talking about?" Dean asked Aurora as everything started to make sense.

"Yes Dean, it was all planned in advance. We knew that Death was going to try and get me to say that I would name myself as the second person, but didn't you notice? Neither of us actually said my name specifically when Death was talking about the sacrifice. He didn't say that _I_ have to do it, he just assumed that because I'll have the rings I will be the one to jump in after Lucifer." Aurora explained to Dean.

"But you won't? How else will there be a second person? Didn't Death say two lives for the price of two... What are you going to do about that?" Now that Aurora's plan was sinking in, Dean had calmed down quite a bit.

"We found out from Chuck that Crowley might show up during the fight..." It was Sophia who answered Dean's question, "In spite of everything that he has done to try and help us, at the end of the day, Crowley is a demon like the others, we need to deal with him as well." There was no sign of remorse in the archangel's voice.

"Whoa! Are you saying that you're going to send Crowley to the cage with Lucifer?" Sam exclaimed in surprise, he hadn't been expecting that.

"Yes. That's exactly what we're saying Sammy... I know you and Dean probably think that its not the right way..." Aurora started to say but was cut off.

"Who cares about the right way or the wrong way? If it means that we have one less Demon War Lord trying to kill us then I'm game. And besides, if I have to do the honors myself and send Crowley to the cage instead of my sister then I will." Dean was firm in his decision to agree with Sophia and Aurora's plan.

"I guess that's what we're going to do then." Sam said as he too agreed with the plan, "So what now?" He asked, the intense meeting with Death had left an air of unsettling tension around everyone in the house.

"Its almost 1 am now... the best thing for us to do is get some sleep, we have only a day left before the fight against Lucifer, we'll need our strength conserved." Sophia suggested, "Chuck, Bobby and Ellen have an early start in the morning as well so we should all rest." She added, knowing that if the two hunters chose they could convince Dean and Sam to get as much sleep as they could afford.

Surprisingly Dean and Sam didn't protest Sophia's decision as they mumbled sleepy 'goodnights' to everyone, training in the shooting range had been a challenging and tiring for them. Everyone else followed suit, including the angels and soon they all were asleep.

The next morning, Ellen was the first to wake up in her own room on the ground floor; it was peaceful having some time alone ever since Jo and Hannah had decided to share a room together. For a moment, Ellen just lay in bed as she thought about the last time she had been in a situation like this with the boys and Bobby. That day she had almost lost her daughter and the thought of losing Jo had nearly killed the older hunter. She was relieved to know that tomorrow the two of them would be together away from the fight. And yet, as the thought crossed her mind, she also knew that Dean and Sam would still be fighting and that was when her motherly instincts for the boys kicked in. Ellen had known John and Mary for a long time and now that they were not here today, she had assumed the role of a mother for Dean and Sam as well.

Sighing deeply, she pushed the worry away from her mind for the moment. It was impossible not to worry about those two brothers but Ellen also knew that she wouldn't let her fears consume her; she had to wake up and get ready to leave. Deciding to cook breakfast one last time for the others, Ellen was soon showered and changed as she headed for the kitchen in no time. As she was making her way across the hall, a sudden cool breeze touched her sending a shiver down her spine. Without hesitating, Ellen reached her hand inside her jacket for the handgun that was always hidden there but didn't pull it out. The wind could mean that someone else was awake in the house but after everything that they had all been through, the hunter in her wasn't going to take any chances. Sensing that the source of the air was coming from the den, Ellen quickly made her way there and noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Pushing it gently, she let out a breath that she didn't realized she had been holding.

"Bobby." She called his name softly when she saw him standing there. His back was facing her as he stared outside the open window.

"Ellen. Didn't expect you to be awake so early." Bobby immediately turned around when he heard her voice and was glad to be wearing his cap which hid his suddenly red ears.

"I was expecting anyone to be awake at this time either. Guess that's what happens when hunters are supposed to be sleeping a lot. Doesn't really work." Ellen shrugged in reply, she knew that Bobby always fumbled with his words whenever she was around him and today was no exception.

"Yeah well try sleeping when you have two idjits you gotta be worrying about all the time." Bobby had told no one but Ellen about how much he really worried for Dean and Sam even though he knew that they could handle themselves perfectly well.

"That's partly why I woke up so early too. I had a nightmare and couldn't sleep properly after..." Ellen confessed; though she didn't remember the details at all, she knew that it had been about the attack at Carthage.

The two hunters stood there then. Face to face, looking at each other but not quite meeting one another's eyes yet. That was until Bobby decided to close the distance between him and Ellen as he crossed over and took her in his arms.

"Nothing's going to happen this time. Jo's gonna be with us and there's three angels looking after the boys as well." Bobby told her reassuringly, knowing that he was convincing himself of the same thing.

"I know that. I just... I can't explain it really but I've got a feeling that something's gonna go wrong and I can't shake it." Ellen knew that she could always be honest with Bobby and not worry about anything.

"Well I got the same feeling as well but my gut says otherwise and I know better than not trusting it. They'll all be fine Ellen." Bobby said to her as he slowly let go of his hold around her but still kept her close.

"I trust you Bobby Singer. If you say that everything's gonna be all right then I know it will be." Ellen smiled, feeling a lot better than she had when she woke up.

"Good to know." Bobby smiled back as he pulled Ellen in for another hug.

"Are we going to tell Dean and Sam about the plan?" Ellen suddenly asked him.

"I don't think we need to. Sophia and Chuck know about it and tomorrow Jo will find out as well. There's no point in letting Dean, Sam and Aurora know what we're gonna do and get them worried. It's not like we're planning to crash the fight, we're just..." Bobby drifted off as Ellen finished the sentence for him.

"We're just not staying at your place tonight. Nor tomorrow for that matter." Ellen answered.

"Exactly. Now what do you think? Shall we go and see if everyone's awake yet?" Bobby asked Ellen as he held out his arm for her.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Ellen linked her arm through Bobby's and walked with him outside.

The new day was just beginning and Ellen was no longer worried. Knowing that Bobby would be there by her side, Ellen was certain that everything would be all right.

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Thoughts? Reviews would be very welcome! Next chapter won't be delayed by a few months! It should be up in two weeks after my TVD fic gets updated next week! ^_^


	71. Chapter 69

**Hello everyone! I've returned at last to my no. 1 fic which has been going on for almost 2 years now! Wooow... long time... its great to be back! I'm sure some of you might have disappeared while waiting for the story to resume and I have to apologize for such a long, long, loooong delay! Life caught up with me, even though i'm not studying or working at the moment... I was busy with personal stuff and my novel writing as well! But I'm back now and hopefully I should be able to update the fic once a month at least... its still a bit far from the ending but not really that far either... I have an idea of the next half a dozen chapters for now, so its not going anywhere yet! **

**To my reviewers for being there, a big Thank You! **SilverHerron, JoyceeLuna, StupidLambWannabe, Victoria, WhattheChuck, **hope to see you all and my other readers back soon! :D**

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It was two hours later when everyone else had woken up and finished getting ready for the day. Even though only Bobby, Chuck and Ellen were leaving in the afternoon, Dean wanted to be certain that everything went according to plan and nothing was left behind.

"Are you sure that you have what you need?" Dean faced Ellen as she locked the last of her bags.

"Yes, I am sure Dean." Ellen didn't mind his questions because she understood that the pressure of what was coming weighed heavily on the young hunter's shoulders, "And if there's anything that I have missed, Jo will bring it with her tomorrow. We'll be fine." She added as an afterthought.

"Yeah... yeah, I know. I just..." Dean shrugged as he tried not to let Ellen get worked up over anything.

"I know." Ellen said to him with a smile and saw that Dean finally relaxed a little bit at last.

It hadn't been too hard for Ellen to learn how to read the older Winchester brother; all she needed was time and patience, which had been plenty enough in this past year or so. Ever since she and Jo had started working with Dean and Sam, it had become a lot easier for her to understand him and she was glad to have had the opportunity to do so.

"I should probably go and check on Bobby." Dean told Ellen and was about to head out of the den when he suddenly bumped into the older hunter then and there.

"Dean! Here you are, your sister's been looking for you everywhere!" Bobby half-yelled, half-scolded him

"What is it Bobby? Did something happen?" Ellen spoke up, sounding slightly worried before Dean had a chance to say anything.

"It seems that Chuck's discovered something in Sophia's attic this morning with a bit of help from Aurora's friend Hannah... said it could help us tomorrow." Bobby explained quickly. "Everyone's in the library." He added, wondering when Dean was going to follow his lead and get a move on it.

"Whatever it is, if it can help us tomorrow then let's go and see what Chuck and Hannah have found." Dean said as he and Ellen made their way towards the library with Bobby.

As soon as the three of them entered the library, Dean saw that everyone seated quietly, waiting for Chuck to begin. Once Sophia noticed his arrival, she beckoned him to take a seat as well.

"Chuck?" Aurora was the first one to speak up, "Why don't you start to explain everything from the beginning?" She suggested to him, knowing that the Prophet would continue from her cue.

"Right. Yes... of course. Well, umm... I asked Hannah to meet me in the attic a few hours ago for some help. I discovered something there last night and it seemed to be a crucial piece of the puzzle which we weren't looking for actually." Chuck said as he carefully removed a bundle of cloth from his jacket.

"What is that?" Sophia looked at it with a puzzled expression indicating that she had never seen it before.

"Its a journal. And not just any journal really, it belonged to Luke." Sitting down on one of the sofa's with everyone else seated around, Chuck opened the cloth bundle to reveal a leather-bound, tattered black diary.

"Luke? As in crazy-prophet Luke?" Dean sounded amazed to hear that the owner of this mysterious journal belonged to the prophet before Chuck.

"Yes the very same Luke." Chuck chose not to comment on Dean's latter remark and began to explain why this was important.

"Well what does it say in there... anything about killing the Devil?" Bobby asked him outright, hoping that's what Chuck had found.

"No. Not really... actually, Luke was known for writing several books based on the New Testament which was known as the Gospel of St. Luke. I know this doesn't really make sense, it was written a long time ago, but there is one thing that I believe could help us in case of an unexpected danger." Chuck flipped through the journal towards the very end and placed it down on the table for everyone to see.

As the angels and the hunters all bent forward to examine the pages, one of which was filled with very messy, scribbled handwriting that looked as if it was a form of archaic english while on the page next to it was a crude sketch and yet everyone was able to recognize what the drawing was.

"Is that what I think it is?" Dean's voice had turned into a slight growl as he realized what he was looking at.

"Dean... its okay... I'm fine." Jo whispered softly as she squeezed his hand tightly, she had taken one glance at the sketch before turning away.

"I... uh... sorry about that. I shouldn't have..." Chuck quickly turned to the next page and began reading out loud. "It says here that there is a way to see a Hellhound in its corporeal form."

On hearing those words from Chuck, everyone's attentions were now focused on him, listening intently to what he had to say.

"Are you saying that this journal tells us what we need in order to actually _see_ the form of a Hellhound? And not just try stabbing invisible air?" Sam was curious to know what the answer was.

"Yes. It is relatively easy too." Chuck bent down and picked up the journal to read the exact words. "Let's see... ah yes, here we are. It says, '_The dire creatures may only be seen by the damned or through an object scorched with Holy Fire._' I suppose the easiest way to go about this would be to simply use a pair of glasses for this task." He finished reading and set the book down.

"That's it?" Dean's slightly unsurprised voice spoke up first. "We need to burn glasses with Holy Fire and it'll do the trick?" He didn't sound too impressed.

"Apparently that is all it takes." Chuck replied calmly, "It doesn't sound like much but it should work and that can prove to be important if Crowley shows up tomorrow with a Hellhound." He explained.

"Or ten." Dean added, realizing that the Prophet was right, the enormity of the solution wasn't as important as the fact that they finally had an advantage.

Suddenly the clock began to chime 11 o'clock alerting everyone that the morning was almost passing by. Ellen decided that it was time she, Bobby and Chuck began to make their final preparations before leaving within the next hour. At the very last minute, there was another addition to the trio who were making their trip back to Sioux Falls.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Ellen asked as she allowed her bags to be lifted from her hands and loaded into the car.

"Believe me Ellen, I have no problem in coming with you all till Bobby's house. Its just for precaution but I spoke to Aura and she agreed that it is a good idea for me to tag along." Balthazar answered as he closed the trunk of the Chevy Truck.

"Well let's get going then! We got our angel bodyguard with us so we're all good." Bobby began to usher everyone inside the truck and waved a last goodbye to everyone else.

"Sammy, I guess now its time we see what Aurora's up to now. I'm sure she has the whole day planned out for us." Dean said to his brother as they headed back inisde the house.

"You're probably right there. Let's go talk to her then." Sam grinned as he followed Dean into the den.

And true to his words, Dean was proven right when he and Sam spoke to their sister. Everyone had agreed that since it was most likely to be their last day, a barbeque was in order and they all would enjoy themselves without worrying about anything else until tomorrow's day dawned. This day was about living life and surrounded by friends and family. For the next few hours, the four angels along with Hannah, Dean, Sam and Jo spent their time outdoors resting. No words were spoken, no looks exchanged, each of them was content with the peaceful silence that had settled there and they greeted it with open arms, slowly falling into a light slumber; either on the benches or hammocks scattered across the garden. It was well after sunset when Aurora, who had been sitting beside Castiel on one of the benches, suddenly touched his shoulder, beckoning him closer.

"Its almost time." She told him softly, a playful smile forming on her lips and the shine in her eyes was enough for Castiel to understand what she meant.

"What are we to do now?" He asked, holding his hand out for her to take as they quietly slipped away from the others and entered the kitchen, glancing back to be sure that the others were still dozing.

"From what Balthazar mentioned, he should be returning soon which means that I'll have to remind Hannah of her part in the plan. We'll need to wait until after dinner before taking the drinks to the den and hopefully while we talk, things will work out." Aurora confessed with a hint of blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Is that all you have thought of Aura?" Castiel sounded surprised, wondering if this was the plan. "How will our talks help get everyone together? We need to think of a way to give them a push." He explained his confusion to her.

"Well... I'm sure that if we find the right thing to talk about then maybe that can help us right?" She offered. "Cas... hey... listen to me, I know this isn't exactly what we had in mind when I told you about the plan but we didn't really have time to talk to anyone about this before. And believe me, I still have faith that things are going to work out in everyone's favor." This time Aurora smiled too.

"I do believe you, if you believe that everything will be alright then I am sure of it as well." Castiel replied after a moment, truly meaning his words. He had faith in Aurora and knew what she was doing.

"Perfect! So let's go and make sure we get a few things sorted out before the others come in soon." Her cheerful mood was back in full swing as she grabbed Castiel's hand and headed towards the hall.

Shortly after Castiel and Aurora had left, Sophia was the first to wake up from her meditation and realized that her companions were not in the garden anymore. She guessed that they must have gone inside the house and was about to head in as well when she suddenly felt a presence close by. Immediately on alert, Sophia slowly unsheathed her angel sword and carefully made her way towards the front of her house; just as she reached the corner, a hand appeared from nowhere and pulled the archangel away from the windows into one of the shadowy spaces of the house and quickly covered her mouth with one hand to prevent her from screaming.

"Sssh... its just me Soph..." Balthazar's voice tickled her ear as he whispered softly with a light chuckle, moving his hand away from her lips.

"What in Heaven's name were you trying to do? Scaring me like that!" Sophia whispered back, her voice taking on a slight loud tone.

"I'm sorry! I got back a few moments ago and saw that you all were fast asleep out here, doing absolutely nothing so I figured..." Deciding that it was better not to finish his sentence, Balthazar grinned as he tried to stop chuckling.

For a whole minute, Sophia silently fumed at her silliness. Balthazar's way of playing a small trick on her was unexpected but instead of being angry with him, she realized that this was the first time the two of them had been around each other... alone. In the whole day that had passed by, it was only now did it hit her how much she had missed him. Sensing the fact that Balthazar was waiting for her to say something instead of simply continuing to blush in the shadows, Sophia's mind went back to what he had called her.

"You shortened my name just now... you called me Soph." She said to him, sounding a bit startled by how much she liked this new name for herself.

"Yes I did. It didn't strike me until today that I never called you anything but Sophia. I always use Cas and Aura or _mei-mei_ so you needed a short version of your name too. Soph sounds better than changing your name to Sophie. Don't you think its nice?" By adding that extra comment, Balthazar knew that she would blush even more.

"Huh... oh, yes... yes I like it." Sophia was already dazed in her own thoughts about the feelings for Balthazar that were making her heartbeat increase ever-so-slightly.

"Shall we go and see where the rest of our gang has gotten to? It sounds too quiet back there. I think everyone else has woken up already." Balthazar broke through her reverie as this time he geniunely gave her a smile and waved a hand as a gesture that he would follow after her.

"Thanks." The archangel absently mumbled as she tried to get her thoughts off Balthazar completely and focus on everything else.

Once the two of them entered the kitchen, Balthazar and Sophia noticed that Aurora was busy with Hannah and Jo who were preparing dinner already while Castiel, Dean and Sam had opted to help the ladies by setting the table in the dining room next door for them. Almost an hour and half later found everyone happily satiated after a wonderful meal and comfortably settled in the den with a bottle of beer in everyone's hand as they all toasted to each other's health and happiness.

"Cheers to us!" Dean suddenly stood up, his second bottle in hand, not too drunk yet but not completely sober either. "For surviving every hurdle, obstacle, angel and demon sent our way and coming out on the other side alive." He added with a grin. "And to us for making it all this way through the fight against Lucifer, his horsemen, Zachariah and even Raphael! Tomorrow is the Apocalypse! And I know in my heart that we will be victorious once again. As we have always been." Saying so, Dean fell silent for a moment before emptying his bottle and sitting back down on the sofa next to Castiel and Aurora.

The others had listened quietly to his sudden speech and raised their bottles to him once he had finished. After spending almost a full 24 hours without thinking of the impending battle approaching quickly, everyone was back to their old selves now, ready to face the new day.

"If you do not mind me asking Dean..." Sophia spoke softly at first, "What exactly did happen at Carthage a few months ago? Castiel never revealed too much about it... but from what I do know, it seems as if that was the first time you all came face to face with Lucifer was it not?" The archangel knew that this was a very grim topic but she also had a reason behind wanting to know more.

Silence filled the room almost as quickly as Sophia's words resonated everywhere. It took all of five long minutes before anyone even dared to sneak a glance at each other; it was Dean who decided that he was the one who needed to answer Sophia, but before he said anything, he first walked over to the cabinet near the fireplace and pulled out a glass and a bottle of whiskey. Pouring himself a drink, he went back to the group where Sophia was waiting patiently.

"Carthage, Missouri. It was the first place we came face to face with Lucifer, me and Sammy. The others..." He paused for a second, letting his eyes drift towards Jo, "Cas had been trapped by Meg earlier and had an encounter with Lucifer too. And... after we got separated from him, there was an attack... hellhounds came after us... and Jo... she got injured trying to save me." Dean continued to hold his gaze on her. "I still don't know how Cas managed to get away in time but he did. He healed Jo and took her back to Bobby's house to recover while Sammy and I went back into town and found Lucifer attempting to raise Death. All we had was the Colt and that proved to be useless against the son of a bitch." Having finished his recollection, he finally gulped down the last of his whiskey and leaned back, feeling Aurora's hand squeezing his very gently.

"It does seem like a miracle that you all managed to survive that ordeal. I know it was hard to talk about it but there was a reason why I asked you about this." Sophia said, and as she continued talking about why she wanted to hear the whole story, Jo quietly slipped away from the den after whispering to Castiel that she needed a moment alone to herself.

Seeing Jo leave, Aurora knew that she should have allowed Dean to go after her that very second, thinking that things would work out sooner than she had thought if they talked about everything but surprising herself, she silently gestured to Balthazar that he excuse himself to get more beers for everyone and talk to Jo if needed.

Near the kitchen, Balthazar found Jo seated at the table there drinking her beer all alone and deep in thought. Taking a deep breath, the angel knew that he had to try and help her in any way that he could.

"Are you okay Jo? You seem a little... distracted." He walked over to her and sat down.

"I'm fine... just still not used to talking about what happened... its... hard... reliving that day, every time someone mentions it... but I'll be okay." Jo's answer was as honest as could ever be.

"Well if you ever need another pair of ears to listen, we're all here for you." Balthazar said to her, "Sometimes talking about it helps... maybe you just need to find the right person to talk to."

Hearing the angel's last comment, somehow Jo knew exactly who Balthazar meant and in that very moment, she decided that she would make sure tonight was the night she spoke to Dean and told him everything.

"You're right Balthazar!" Jo exclaimed, "I know that I have to talk to Dean about this, not because I need to but its because I want to!" In her excitement, the young hunter forgot that her bottle of beer was still half full and while hastily jumping up, she stumbled slightly and ended up spilling her drink on the angel.

"Oh my god!" Jo's eyes widened in shock as she realized what just happened. "Balthazar, I am so very sorry! I didn't mean... I don't know what happened..." She started panicking slightly, hoping that he would understand it was unintentional.

"Jo! Hey, relax... its okay." Balthazar had grimaced slightly when the beer had fallen on his clothes and he was starting to feel sticky. "Things like this happen all the time. It was an accident. Don't worry about it. I'll just go take a quick shower and be back in a little bit okay?" He reassured her that everything was fine and that he was not angry at all.

"Wait." Jo suddenly called out to him as Balthazar was making his way upstairs, "You're an angel, so why not just... poof yourself clean?" She asked him, looking puzzled after hearing that he was going to shower.

"Its going to sound strange but even the slightest bit of angel mojo that I have with me needs to be reserved for tomorrow. So its gotta be the human way to get rid of a beer spill." Balthazar grinned as he removed his jacket.

With that, he headed towards the second floor where his room was, leaving Jo to head for the den once again. As soon as she entered, she was able to catch bits and pieces of the current conversation going on. From what Jo could make out with Aurora's help, Dean had decided to ask Sophia a question in return; only this time it wasn't anything depressing or serious, in fact, it was about her love life.

"I did fall in love thrice while spending my time in Europe, and I even was close to getting engaged to the last man I was involved with, but because things obviously couldn't get so serious, I was going to end the relationship myself when it turned out that Robert was getting cold feet. We talked about everything on my last day in London and mutually agreed that it was best for us to go in separate ways." Sophia finished the last of her experiences, confirming to Dean that it had been 3 times, first Greece, then Italy and finally London.

"Hold on a sec..." Dean had something to say, "Is that it? Robert suddenly got cold feet and broke up with you before proposing?" He was amazed to hear this.

"Yes. And before you tell me that he was all sorts of different names, remember that I wasn't going to accept his proposal either. I'm here on Earth to help you all find each other's soulmates and not the other way around." Sophia explained herself before Dean went on.

"Okay... I have a question too." Sam suddenly interjected, "You had three relationships in these past 25 years right? Erik, Carlos and Robert... all of them ended amicably and mutally. And all three guys were not jerks or anything but in fact they were... gentlemen?" He used the same word Sophia had chosen to describe her past boyfriends.

"Yes. And very romantic too. I say, now that you mention it, I do recall something that each of them did which proved that they were quite the charmer." Sophia told them as a memory started to come back to her, "The three of them requested a small memento from me before I left, something for them to remember me by. I never asked for anything in return because the memories from each one of them was enough for me." The archangel smiled as she dwelled on her old memories, faded but never gone for good.

"Three different guys asking for the same thing from you, a special memento. That's definitely really amazing. I've heard of one guy doing that before... but multiple times is pretty rare. What was the most romantic thing they did for you?" Hannah blurted out to Sophia suddenly, wondering herself where the question had come from, not to mention her earlier comments.

She had been sitting quietly next to Jo, listening to the angels talking and occasionally exchanging a quick look with Sam but on hearing Sophia's tales of her romantic past, something had made Hannah speak up.

"Oh well... I don't remember what Erik had done when he first asked me out, its a bit of a blur... I believe it was the typical walk on the beach under the moonlight after a candlelight dinner. Robert didn't ask me out in a lavish manner but confessed that he had planned a big proposal when he was going to ask me to marry him. Carlos on the other hand... oh, he was the most romantic of them all... he actually tattooed my name as a sign of his love for me..." Sophia suddenly stopped her reply mid-way as something struck her suddenly.

"Sophia?" Aurora noticed the change in her friend and started to worry on noticing the archangel's expression, "Sophia!" This time she got her attention.

"Where's Balthazar?" As soon as the words left her own mouth, Sophia realized that Jo's comment about her boyfriends could mean only one thing. The possibility that they might have all been the same man, thrice. "Jo? You were with him last... where is he?" She remained calm on the outside while her mind was racing with all sorts of questions in her mind.

"He... uh... there was a small accident... I spilled beer on him earlier and he told me that the easiest thing to do was go for a shower. He said he would be down soon." Jo replied, wondering what was going on.

Before anyone else could say anything, Sophia was gone. She had gotten up from the sofa seconds ago and hastened out the den.

Upstairs on the second floor, the archangel had found herself standing outside Balthazar's room so soon that it took Sophia a second to remember what had brought her here in the first place. She needed to know the truth, she needed her answers now and so taking a deep breath, Sophia braced herself and pushed the door open without bothering to knock.

The moment she stepped inside, Sophia knew that Balthazar was not there. Since the room was empty, she guessed that he was still in the shower and standing inside his bedroom, the archangel finally allowed herself to think about what she was planning to do.

"This is crazy!" She whispered out loud, "What was I thinking?" Sophia knew that she could start a whole conversation with herself right this very moment about how wrong and impulsive it was of her to suddenly barge inside Balthazar's room to question him about the truth.

Making up her mind to go back downstairs and wait for him to join the group in a few minutes, Sophia had just turned towards the door when something caught her eye. Spinning around, she focused her attention on the bed where Balthazar had placed a fresh set of clothes for himself. But that was not what Sophia was looking at. It was the tiny leather pouch which Balthazar always wore on his neck that had made her turn back. The one thing that Balthazar never let go of, and yet here it was... lying on the bed, next to his black v-neck t-shirt, calling out to her. Moving ever so swiftly, Sophia rushed over and carefully picked up the makeshift necklace, wondering what to do.

"Should I...?" Sophia asked herself, this was probably something that would help give her some answers.

Without thinking twice, she loosened the strings around the pouch and slowly began to open it, pulling out a tiny bundle of a... handkerchief. Sophia's eyes grew wide as she noticed that it was a silk lace handkerchief with the initial 'S' stitched in a corner. Before she had even registered what she was doing, Sophia had already opened the knot and saw two objects lying there – a lock of long chocolate brown hair and a gold anklet which also bore a charm of the letter 'S'. She had given the handkerchief to Robert on their last day together, a lock of her hair to Carlos as a token and the anklet to Erik.

Just then, the noise of the shower stopped and Sophia was broken from her trance as she realized that Balthazar was going to be here any second. She had already begun to walk towards the door when she heard his voice calling out to her.

"Soph? What are you doing here?" Balthazar had come outside his bathroom dressed in a pair of black jeans and a towel with which he was drying his hair. "Is everything..." His voice drifted off as his gaze left Sophia's back and moved to his bed where he saw that the pouch was no longer there.

Cursing herself mentally for not putting the things back where they belonged, Sophia was about to explain what she was doing there to Balthazar and had even slowly moved so that she was face to face with him but the very second her eyes fell on him, they widened in surprise and she gasped out in shock. Sophia could not believe what she was seeing, there was a tattoo... Balthazar's name, written in Enochian, it had been placed on the left side of his chest. But that was not the reason she had gasped so suddenly, no. For her eyes slowly made their way past the Enochian tattoo and were now staring at another one, underneath his.

"Sophia." She whispered softly as she read her own name had been inscribed in Enochian as well.

Balthazar had tattooed her name below his and it was placed exactly where his heart was.

* * *

**Dun-dun-dun! Cliffhanger! Ha... sorry about that, tried to make a bit of a big comeback! What does this mean for Balthazar & Sophia? Hope you guys are looking forward to the next 4 chapters which will be romantic-based and not action-packed fighting just yet! R&R? ^_^**


	72. Author's Note III

**To my readers: **

Hey everyone! I haven't forgotten any of you and I most certainly have not forgot this story either! I know its been a whole year since my last update (whoa! O_O) and there's been no word from me until now and no new chapter added yet but that's why I'm posting this A/N now! I've been having a really busy year even though I'm not studying at the moment but am preparing for my TOEFL due to be given next month... and I have had a horrible writer's block since last summer which meant that my novels were all put to an indefinite halt... and even though I'm still writing, its been mostly on my blog or other fanfics which are mostly one-shots! I know there's no need for excuses or explanations for my delay with this story but i'm just having a bit of a hard time working on this Sophia/Balthazar confrontation scene since a while now; every time I try to write it the way its pictured in my mind, something always just never feels quite right! BUT! I do have some good news and some bad news so here goes -

**Good News: **As soon as my TOEFL ends next month I'll be devoting my writing time more towards this fanfic and hopefully pause the others cause I also have a TVD fic to get back to. So while i'm not guaranteeing a chapter as early as 15th April, I will do my best to get it uploaded sometime after the 12th!

**Bad News: **I've decided to wrap up the story with only a handful of chapters to close everything after the main Aurora vs. Lucifer Apocalypse chapters finish. So technically its not like that's happening in the next half a dozen chapters and it'll probably take my at least once a month to upload each chapter which means its still going to be prolonged for the rest of 2014... but yeah... i've got an end of sorts in mind, however... if it does end up getting dragged on for another 2 dozen chapters I hope to see everyone stick around until the end!

I've missed you all and I do feel quite horrible over seemingly neglecting to at least mention something until now but I'm going to do my best to finish this story soon! So... I'll see everyone next month! ^_^


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